


Shadow of a Previous Life

by MVickery



Series: Scary/Smart Tubbo! [1]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Mcyt Dream SMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: BadBoyHalo living up to his name in here, Demon Tubbo, Dream will actually have a big part, Evil Tubbo, Gods exist but only for prayer and mischief, Hurt Toby Smith | Tubbo, Hype is still there, I may put in some art if I do not procrastinate, I swear this actually has a plot no I am not just writing whatever, Manipulative Tubbo, Mental Instability, Now he can’t b r e a t h e, Scary Tubbo, Shapeshifters - Freeform, Smart Tubbo, So according to these statistics I have no life, Technoblade hurt Tubbo, The Archives, There is so much trauma I swear-, Toby Smith | Tubbo Needs a Hug, Toby Smith | Tubbo-centric, TommyInnit is mean, Tryed adding art but I don’t have the braincells to figure out how, Tubbo basically attacks everyone so yeah I’d say he’s a traitor, Tubbo has a pet bee, Tubbo is capable, Tubbo like da bee (:, Updates Daily, Villain Dream, Villain Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Villain Wilbur, We coded the game so that Tubbo goes sicko mode while still being the good guy, YEAH I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BUT STILL, basically I’m trying to give Tubbo a reason for going sicko mode, for now (:, people are mean to Tubbo, traitor Tubbo, tryed to add art but I have no braincells, well actually there are basically no good people here only good choices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:29:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 49,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27722143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MVickery/pseuds/MVickery
Summary: WE NOW HAVE A DISCORD SERVER! UPDATES OFTEN!After dying painfully from a firework's explosion you might believe that the next step is to go to wherever you go to find peace.For Tubbo however this was not the case.Now that he’s been brought back from Hell itself with new powers and a mission Tubbo will have to complete this final trial with the help of new powers.Destroying those who hurt him? A perk of the job of course.Basically Tubbo has to kill everyone in the Dream SMP to become a high ranking Demon after he’s died and his emotions are different than before. Also there are differences to canon as in how Tommy wasn’t very good and all that jazz. Also many people have ulterior motives I am doing this for self satisfaction.
Relationships: Nothing other than canon if at all, you think I know what love is?
Series: Scary/Smart Tubbo! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052861
Comments: 254
Kudos: 576





	1. Prologue

What had happened?

Tubbo was numb and felt as if he were incased within some kind of fluid.

Everything felt… Foggy.

_ Schlatt manically laughed as Technoblade brought forth a firework loaded crossbow. _

Oh. He was dead.

As Tubbo drifted through whatever he was stuck in memories floated around his brain.

His eyes opened to see nothing but grey expanses surrounding him, surprisingly without a single trace of something other than his very own outstretched hand.

Tubbo felt hollow.

He was really dead. Wasn’t he?

That should be shocking.

Gazing empty eyes to his legs Tubbo could tell that yes, he was all there.

Was this death?

Was death just this? An empty wasteland? We’re his emotions… gone?

Nothing.

A gradual twist came to his stomach and half lidded eyes noticed that he was completely covered in blood.

What was that twist then?

Was it some kind of emotional response that was being suppressed due to shock?

A noise rang out crystal clean and it took a while for Tubbo to realise that it came from him.

Laughter.

So  _ this _ was what the emotion was! Some kind of insanity from being painfully killed!

Tubbo’s eyes scrunched up with glee and another laugh peeled from his throat.

_ Dead. _

He was  _ dead. _

It must have been insanity which curled up inside of him. No other emotions had he felt before that were so  _ chaotic _ .

Why was this it?

No fear or sadness but this?

Tubbo didn’t know what it was but he couldn’t complain. If he could have gone back to the festival at that moment what would he do? Would he even care about them?

Suddenly his body convulsed with a burning gab to the chest.

This was anger.

No, Tubbo realised, anger wasn’t this all consuming being within him.

It was Hate.

What for? Schlatt had just been doing whatever he could for power, other than the abuse and pain he’d given to Tubbo there wasn’t much else.

_ Pain. _

Wilbur and Tommy had been there and assured him that Technoblade was on their side. Obviously not seeing as how the pig hybrid had managed to explode Tubbo into chunks and pieces before running with them back to Pogtopia. Leaving his body behind.

**_Pain_ **

Dream, George and Sapnap had nothing to do with any of it. They’d fought many times before. Dream was the one who had given Wilbur the final push to insanity, George and Quackity had been Schlatt’s minions. While Sapnap had killed many pets and set fire to the country.

Fundy and Eret had betrayed him.

Niki pleaded with Tubbo to abandon Schlatt and surely get killed or be considered a possible spy.

**_PaiN._ **

Tubbo was dead.

He was dead and permanently gone because of their actions.

Hate cradled him while Insanity fueled him.

Was he a monster?

A gurgle came from behind Tubbo’s floating body of which he spun around to face.

Only to find a scroll of which felt important.

_ Dearly deceased one. _

_ Congratulations on making our selection! _

_ It is rare for such a young candidate to be chosen such as you, we select solely based on types of death and emotional capability to meet our standards. _

_ After looking through your final hours and many more before that we have decided that you would make the perfect choice to become a Demon! _

A Demon. Should he be shocked?

_ Please bare in mind we did not choose you for just any reason! The world of which you come from, ‘Dream SMP’ was not meant to exist! Many talented fighters were accidentally brought there at birth and now to prove your second chance we will use to exterminate them! _

Exterminate meant kill. Why could he feel?

_ You were the only person in the ‘Dream SMP’ of whom fit our standards for Demon ascension! However seeing as how every other being inhabiting the land is strong we will give you some enhancements of which you will have automatic control of, as well as a high ranking Demon standing if the job is correctly done. We will release you there after you’ve understood this message! _

That made sense. Everyone else in the Dream SMP had always been so amazing.

The twists in his stomach filled him with a horrible excitement that made him was to  _ rip  _ and  _ tear  _ and-

_ We have taken a close look at your childhood and noticed some points of which make you perfect for our choice of Demonic energy. Shadow energy will be a natural talent for you. Demonic energy is not often given to beginners! _

Was that what the feelings were? The energy?

_ So, we’ll sign off with a few rules! _

_ *You can take up as much time as you want as long as none of them die from natural means! Enjoy yourself! _

Time and enjoyment. Could he still feel these?

_ *The more fear you inspire from others will fuel you along with your remaining emotions! Make a statement :) _

He could use this. Take the time to make them feel fear about what he could do. Tubbo curled non-human lips unconsciously. Showmanship would do.

_ *For the particularly strong opponents you’ll face you’ll won’t have any trouble as long as they do not have enough time to fully learn your movements! It’ll still be hard for you seeing as some are blessed by gods. _

That must mean Technoblade and how he spoke of ‘The Blood God’. Perhaps Dream was also blessed by a wisdom God, or Schlatt by a leadership Gods if closely looked at.

If the Gods existed then that would make sense of many things.

_ Then one final thing! _

Tubbo felt the presence of  **s o m e t h i n g** behind him. His body couldn’t move away from the pressure of that  **s o m e t h i n g** which disappeared as quickly as it left.

_ Don’t disappoint us (: _

Tubbo grasped at his head to try and calm himself down from the fear. Was this grey space hell? Was that the Devil?

So many questions were brought forth from his death. This was obviously not any sort of joke or prank and Tubbo was really dead.

The paper disappeared into particles and his vision shook.

The grey was rapidly disappearing while emotions trundled throughout Tubbo’s body.

**_Insanity_ **

**_Pain_ **

**_Hate_ **

The rules solidified in his mind as if an entity had placed them there. His vision grew dark and body gained minor sensations.

Have fun huh?

He wouldn’t disappoint that  **s o m e t h i n g** .


	2. Fly like a butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tubbo re-emerges for his revenge.

A bubble containing Tubbo’s prone body grew from the forest floor, then popped realising dark fluids and Tubbo himself.

The boy righted himself up into a sitting position and blinked his bleary eyes before scanning himself over.

His body looked about the same from a casual glance despite the massive amount of blood in his clothing.

However, a further inspection led to him discovering a large tracing scar across his chest and trailing up his neck. None of his scars hurt per say, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to pain.

Spruce trees filled the expanses around him and a small body of water pooled mer metres away.

He might as well take a look at his face right?

Tubbo stood up and strode over to the pond to lean over to take a peak of his face.

A bright pale scar shone from his forehead which took up a lot of room before receding into his hair. It was very obvious even through the slight ripples from the pond.

His eyes also seemed off.

Tubbo’s pupils seemed to be smaller than before, mostly being an unnoticeable change but added an aura of uncanny to his facade. The iris itself was also brighter than before and seemed to shine despite the darkness of night.

Night vision was probably a part of his new powers.

Speaking of powers, there was a sort of humming surrounding him.

Tubbo couldn’t feel the same as he used to be able to, however the shadows seemed to lick his feet and expand when close to him. Almost as if he had a protective shell to defend himself from any outside threats.

He cocked his head to the side once having realised that the memory of having emotions were at the forefront of his mind, probably being brought forth from the  **s o m e t h i n g** to remind him of how his actions should be done.

This had to go smoothly or his new life would be over for good.

  
  
  


—————

  
  
  


Fundy felt a chill trail down his spine that he had only felt when facing against Technoblade or Dream.

Startled, the fox spun around to face the forest of which he was patrolling as the captain of the guard, despite the knowledge that whoever was there would likely be the one to end his life for good.

“Wha-”

Only to see a prone body that was almost completely shaded by the shadows around.

Fundy ran over while panicking.

What if Technoblade had gotten in and killed someone?! The festival had almost destroyed all of his plans, he couldn’t handle dealing with another situation like that!

As the body came into view a gasp struck him.

Where was Schlatt when you needed him?!?!

—————

The president himself sat at an office table, bored.

He’d used to make Tubbo deal with the massive amounts of paperwork because he knew how much the boy couldn’t stand being indoors. Now he’d killed the boy, in a truly spectacular way might he add, meant that him, Quackity, and George whenever possible, had to do the grunt work.

It almost made him wish that Tubbo hadn’t been killed.

On second thoughts, no.

Schlatt sighed and leant back in his office chair to rub his forehead.

If only Technoblade hadn’t left with that idiot Wilbur Soot and his little gremlin TommyInnit. It was a clear act of betrayal as well as how the execution had left a few burn scars on his own wrist and singed Quackity’s eyebrow clean off.

Schlatt leant forward again with a serious expression.

It was a possibility that Technoblade had completely betrayed him and been on the side of Wilbur soot in the first place.

From how they had treated Tubbo before the election it was obvious that the boy was inferior to the two of them. Just a pawn to a bigger game.

Schlatt knew he was the ruler playing, but who was the other side's controller?

Certainly not Wilbur.

Who was this chess game against? Or did he miss something while counting down to victory.

A smile graced his lips.

Even if it were Technoblade or even f*cking  _ Dream  _ who was against him, he would win.

Nothing at all could go wrong.

The sound of heavy footprints startled his goat hybrid ears. Someone wearing armour was heading towards his office  _ fast _ .

Schlatt grabbed a splash potion of harming and got ready to press the emergency button underneath his desk.

He was the god damned president and nobody would kill  _ him _ .

The door burst open to reveal the captain of his guard puffing loudly with the shocked expression of a man who had seen many sights.

Schlatt sighed and placed the potion back in his inventory.

“Jesus  _ Christ  _ man, don’t you know how to knock?!”

Fundy gasped and inhaled air before answering

“We just found Tubbo in the forest! He was still alive!!!”

Oh. That changes things.

—————

The cool crisp air of the infirmary was pleasing to Schlatt’s sensitive nose.

It had been a long night of brining the _previously f*cking dead_ _Tubbo_ back into the walls of Manberg and trying to see what on earth had happened to him.

Only scars from the explosion covered him, including a particularly obvious one over his head and the blood stained clothes were there to remind him of what had happened.

Those however were the very things that didn’t make any f*cking sense.

High quality potions of healing either were unable to heal or left no trace of a scar. The festival itself had also happened only two days ago, which meant there was no possibility that he had healed naturally.

Nothing made any goddamn sense when it came to Tubbo.

Another contributing factor to this unreasonable person was the fact that the blood soaked clothes had not been removed at all. Meaning that unless it was one very messed up person who helped him and didn’t even bother to change him, or no  _ person  _ was involved at all.

Schlatt looked down to the offending body next to him.

He would wait until the boy woke up to get answers of what the hell had happened. Whether or not Tubbo did so willingly.

—————

Technoblade froze from his potato farm hidden inside of Pogtopia.

It was almost as if something dangerous had appeared, something that felt almost familiar to him.

Surely not.

—————

BadBoyHalo flinched from within the Badlands headquarters.

Antfrost was carrying plans behind him about their new goal. For the chaos and war to envelope both Manberg and Pogtopia.

Something must have happened, because any previous feelings of safety left his soul.

—————

Dream strolled with determination after hearing the most recent news from Manberg.

There was no way Tubbo could have survived such a blast from Technoblade’s crossbow.

He himself knew that Technoblade being the only of whom could fight fair and square against Dream.

Though they both knew as to just why they were different from the rest.

Yes, everything was going to plan.

—————

Tubbo began his fake wake up.

Yes, everything was going to plan.


	3. Plan your moves ahead

Tubbo blinked with a confused expression beginning on his face.

Schlatt had positioned himself on a black business chair that looked out of place in the white and clean room with a smile hiding many emotions behind it.

“Why hello, Tubbo.”

The boy in question blinked at the lights before his eyes seemingly focused on the hybrid in front of him. A behaviour which came from his previous life.

“Schlatt?... Where am I?”

Tubbo forced himself to pretend to take in the room around him before bringing a gasp to his lips and quickly coming to a seated position.

“This is the hospital! What happened?!”

Schlatt’s smile became a more forced expression.

“Why what do you mean Tubbo? Would you  _ care  _ to explain to me how you think this happened?”

That was anger. Such an insignificant amount to the burning hate with Tubbo’s very own chest which made him want to rip and _ tear _ and-

No. He had to gather fear, and to get fear he must first break the minds of everyone else.

“I… I… I’m s-sorry Schlatt for s-speaking over you. I… I… really don’t know!”

Tears came to his eyes readily and he knew that this would be a perfect show.

Schlatt didn’t even seem to notice that it was all an act. Had he really been  _ scared _ of this man?

“Well, why don’t you tell me what you can think of last? Then I’ll be able to fill you in on just what you missed.”

Oh this would be easy.

“I… I was just planning for the festival! Oh god did I miss it?! I-I’m so sorry Schlatt I  _ swear _ I was making a speech and then-”

“Woah woah woah woah woah Tubbo!”

Schlatt held out a hand with the fakest of kindness in his eyes.

“I’m surprised you don’t even remember the festival! It was just two days ago-”

Tubbo couched his head as if he was reacting in horror. Schlatt just held up his hand again to the boy in what must have been an attempt to calm him down.

“Don’t worry you did your speech alright. Do you remember anything else though? Like so,etching that happened  _ after  _ that _? _ ”

Tubbo shook his head frantically.

“No! I’m sorry sir I just can’t remember anything at all!”

He was going to play the long game with this world. Just do something for the beautiful feelings that lived inside of his chest.

—————

Schlatt studied the boy once again.

Something felt… off about the way he reacted. As if it wasn’t Tubbo lying there but some kind of ferocious beast.

Perhaps it was from the scars being so unfamiliar to him, or maybe how his eyes seemed to be much less worldly.

Or was it from the fact that Tubbo, while still obviously telling the truth, wasn’t panicking as much as he would have expected.

Should he shrug it off as being Wilbur or Tommy who had done something.

Perhaps he was just thinking too closely about it.

However something was  _ clearly _ wrong and it bugged him.

There was something good about this whole ordeal though. Something which he would be able to  _ use _ against the rebellion.

“Would you like me to tell you exactly what happened, Tubbo?”

The boy nodded eagerly and Schlatt felt stupid for ever thinking the kid might be a threat.

Sprinkling truth within a lie was always the best option when convincing someone to go to your side.

Schlatt dramatically leant back into his chair and pulled a wrist over his forehead.

“It really was horrible Tubbo! Are you sure that you  _ really  _ want to know?”

Peaking an eye open he saw the boy scrunch his face up in fear and curiosity.

“If… If it’s okay with you sir… I’d really love to-”

“Well if that’s your answer I must oblige! We all did think that you were dead after all!”

Good, he was hooked.

“In fact, not even  _ I  _ was expecting Technoblade to set off that firework then run off with Wilbur and his merry men, well man. I would have thought that your  _ previous  _ friendship was much stronger! Though with how much Tommy yelled at you for being  _ useless _ I should have known they’d want to get rid of you.”

Tubbo’s eyes were wide, showing a distressing view of his pupils of which Schlatt wasn’t too sure he’d get used to despite the minor change.

“W-w-what?... It w-was  _ Technoblade _ ?!”

The kid looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack from how hard his breathing was. His hands had clenched into tight fists which grabbed at the plain blanket of the hospital room.

“T-Technoblade  _ shot _ me?!”

Well, if the pig hybrid had been helping Wilbur the entire time then it wasn’t a small stretch to think that Tubbo knew.

Meaning that his former friends had betrayed him from his view.

Schlatt’s eyes curled up in a muddled sense of glee.

What better use of manipulation was to make the other side afraid of itself?! He’d have to give Tubbo some leeway into meeting up with his  _ former _ friends just so that everything would go smoothly, but since when did  _ Tubbo _ ever pose a threat?

It wasn’t like he would give the kid any real information from his side, better to use him against ‘Pogtopia’ and bring them to ruin.

Bringing his hands together with a loud clap which brought Tubbo back to the real realm Schlatt spoke

“You’ve definitely got a lot of scarring, but other than that I think you should be fine to go home.”

Something about the fearful way the boy stared at him with tears gathering was absolutely amazing.

“I want you to come to the cabinet tomorrow and give a short speech about what happened to you, say about how it was so bad the memories can’t even get through and so the people know you’re alive. If people started believing there was a ghost around then I think we might have a problem.”

Translation: don’t he dare show himself before tomorrow.

Schlatt gave a menacing smile.

“Understand?”

Tubbo was still in shock. However, the boy still answered from his previous knowledge of just what happened when he got on the president’s bad side.

Such with a defeated expression he said

“Y… yes Schlatt.”

Schlatt put his hand on the kids shoulder, digging in his goat hybrid dark claws.

“Good boy.”

The president stood up and strode out of the room, not noticing the shadows curling around the topic of his interest like a friendly cat.

Tubbo felt Hate.


	4. Listen to the whispers

Quackity wasn’t the most studious of guys.

In fact he was quite the opposite. He made jokes about his, might he boldly claim, sexy body and large ass of which were  _ completely true! _

These jokes were what made people underestimate him.

When he ran in the elections he knew that there was absolutely no way that he might win. Pog2020 was the main and most loved party after all.

So when he realised that his running partner of which he’d thought would gain more votes had practically  _ baled _ on him and not even shown up for the election?

Well he made a deal with the devil in gain of power.

Power was what drove him.

If Schlatt had just been some regular figure head then he wouldn’t of been forced to become the Vice President of whom only had the use of comic relief without the brains to go with it.

Oh, he had brains alright.

Enough brains to realise that Schlatt had gone off to the deep end by making a literal child plan their own execution and then to gruesomely carry it out.

The fact there was such a large faction opposing the goat hybrid also served as a testament to how long the man would stay in a position of power.

You see, power itself is what makes a great man.

Wilbur was obsessed with his precious L’manberg and getting it back, as well as that he was obviously going off to the deep end during this whole rebellion he was doing.

Not even to mention that his side had  _ Technoblade _ ! Him and Dream were the literal strongest around.

Quackity mussed all by himself within the Vice Presidential office. Oh how he  _ hated  _ being second place.

If only Schlatt hadn’t have gone off and killed Tubbo in front of the whole server.

Schlatt would still have a bit of trust from the citizens. Well, not lots but the smallest of dredges. Then Quackity would be able to gain power slowly until the next election when he’d set off some amazing plan.

Tubbo’s death had ruined everything.

The doorknob to his office turned and the only person of whom he knew could do that glided in.

Schlatt easily slammed a hand onto his office table, disrupting a small stack of rubbers placed on top of each other.

“So, Quackity. I don’t suppose you heard about what happened last night? Didn’t get woken up by any of the ruckus?”

Oh god. What could there be that Schlatt looked so evilly happy about?

With sweat dripping down Quackity’s brow he replied

“No, sir?”

The smile grew larger and he began to sweat even more from the stress.

“Oh! Well Fundy found a very  _ welcome  _ visitor unconscious just outside of our borders. Can you guess just who it might have been?”

F*ck him. Did TommyInnit or some other freak manage to sustain some kind of injury on enemy territory and lose any chances for Quackity to ever take back the power he so craved?

Wait, he had to be rational with this. Rubbing the back of his head Quackity forced a smile onto his face.

“Well I’m guessing someone like Wilbur or Tommy from how big your smile is! You know I’m also a big sleeper because of the daily trouble of carrying my fat a-”

“Oh no, it isn’t Wilbur or Tommy who we found. In fact, it was someone who just recently got brought back from the afterlife!”

Quackity’s mouth ran dry. The only person who had recently died was- but no! The screams of pain still haunted him in his darkest of nightmares. Memories of the fireworks not even leaving a body behind filled his vision as he tried not to think about the blood which sprayed in a fine mist.

There was no way in hell he had survived Technoblade’s firework.

—————

The pure and healing air of the hospital was an effect from the amount of healing potions that had been used within its walls.

This very air was also slowly being corrupted by Tubbo’s stay as a fake patient.

Schlatt had said that Tubbo could leave at anytime, so that was what he was currently doing, lest even the smallest of clues were to cast suspicion onto him.

A change in the ever present hums startled him. The shadows warned that a living being was approaching with their omnipresent ways.

Tubbo composed himself quickly before Quackity burst in through the door almost looking like his world had been turned upside down.

Well, perhaps his really had.

The man froze in shock at the sight of what Tubbo knew wasn’t very pleasant. Scars covered his entire body in a way that didn’t seem all natural, and apparently his new eye style was also distressing.

Quackity slowly began to walk towards him as if he didn’t believe it really was Tubbo.

Thankfully he’d had plenty of experience practicing a look of gloom with tearing eyes.

“Tubbo… h-how?!”

Oh so he was speechless. Tubbo lowered his head to make careful tears drip down his cheeks and spoke in hushed tones.

“I-I don’t… I don’t remember.”

Quackity rushed to give him an awkward hug cutting off any other options for an explanation. The older man had a way of pulling him in without any choice of escape, practically forcing Tubbo to snuggle into his side.

“F*ck, I’m so glad you lived.”

Oh.

That was unlikely.

Tubbo controlled the urge to burst into maniacal laughter having spotted the exact emotions Quackity had failed to hide.

Relief.

Not  _ just  _ any relief though.

Tubbo had heard his fair share of crazed people and knew when to spot such an emotion.

That was relief that now Quackity wouldn’t have to endanger himself and would be able to just place Tubbo himself on the metaphorical chopping block.

_ Yellow concrete boxed him in. There was no way that Schlatt could have carried such an amount, nor could he have placed it on the right side of Tubbo’s body. _

The hate returned as a welcome emotion churning inside of him.

Quackity let go of him and seemingly studied his face for a while, or more likely, the scars, before he muttered

“Jesus Christ man, those scars look terrible.”

Oh this was the perfect moment for him. A way to solidify his rankings as the amnesiac soft boy!

—————

After those words Quackity knew he’d said the wrong thing.

Tubbo froze almost as if he’d found out about some kind of secret involving his life.

_ Oh god there weren’t any mirrors in the room! _

What if Tubbo had no idea about the horrific looking scars curled around his body, and Quackity just blew it!

“W… What s-scars?!”

Oh, that confirmed it alright.

Sh*t.

“Is there- is there a mirror anywhere?!”

_ Say something! You’re looking like a jerk out there! _

“F*ck.”

_ NOT THAT! _

Quackity brought out his inventory and pulled out the mirror he used to style his wig and gave it over to Tubbo who immediately stopped in his tracks.

A hand traced the palest star speckled scar of which covered his left eye. Then he brought the trembling fingers down to the obviously large mark over his chest, that of which must have surely traveled down based on how much mass it took over from what he could see.

Tears began to pour from the young boy's eyes.

F*ck man, this was a literal sixteen year old! What should he do?!

Tubbo blinked multiple times, before in a defeated tone spoke

“P-please just leave me… alone.”

Quackity bolted.


	5. Lest you end up dead

An altar gleamed in the shadows as a cloaked being prayed.

The air of which filled the underground chambers whispered secrets into the ears of whoever it could find. Some secrets containing the knowledge of which could overcome and then rule a nation.

The being stood up as long dead muttering followed. Muttering that should have never existed in the first place, for the knowledge it spoke was too unholy.

A white ceramic mask was produced from within a dark chest then placed onto the area of which the masked beings face should be.

“I couldn’t get a read on it. He must have some kind of blessing from a healing god.”

Dream then began to climb a ladder leading to the upper world.

“I want it.”

—————

Quackity hadn’t just come to see him.

  
  


Tubbo realised shortly that a note had been left on his desk in the familiar curled writing style of the president. Quackity obviously hadn’t had the guts to directly deliver it and had instead fled the scenes.

_ Hey Tubbo. Change in plans for you. Just in case of some unsavoury visitors coming to take you away I want you to bunker up with Fundy! He should be right outside of the hospital by the time Quackity’s delivered this note. Come to my office tomorrow at  _ _ 8:30 _ _ and not a second later. _

Tubbo hadn’t realised earlier but there seemed to be no trace of his normal dyslexia.

He stood up and got himself ready to leave. This never ending acting was honestly kind of fun.

—————

Fundy anxiously waited outside of the infirmary for his former ally during the times of L’Manberg.

Those times which he, Wilbur, Tommy, Eret, and Tubbo spent playing around with only the occasional raid from Dream and his crazed minions were fun while they lasted, but Eret had betrayed them all, and now Fundy himself did the same.

Wilbur Soot was the worst father a man could have in his option.

His own mother was a f*cking salmon and then he’d been produced in a bizarre mutation.

Wilbur didn’t actually  _ care _ about him.

The man was descending even further down the looney hole and had obviously felt more betrayed by Tubbo being forced to work for Schlatt then his very own son who did it voluntarily.

As soon as Eret had betrayed them in the old days for Dream Wilbur was heart broken.

Fundy was only an afterthought these days. Just any old enemy.

It wasn’t like he cared about that or anything though.

“F-Fundy?”

Tubbo had opened up the door. A picturesque description of fear and curiosity spread over his now mutilated face.

God, he’d never get used to that. Would he.

Letting out a sigh Fundy faced away to begin his escorting duty.

“I’ll be sharing this new place with you. We don’t want a repeat of the festival.”

Tubbo didn’t even respond. Instead a small shiver which was only noticeable by using his own hybrid eyes made its way across Tubbo’s shoulders. The atmosphere was tense as Fundy stood up and started walking knowing thatTubbo would follow from behind

The very place they were walking to likely being a newly made dirt shack which he’d have to  _ share _ . This was definitely going to be very awkward.

Dirt crunched underneath their footsteps. A previous tnt explosion had made the soil infertile and spread the spiky chunks of some unfortunate’s house across the forest floor.

Of course the shack had to be in the same forest of which he’d found Tubbo’s bloodied body lying in. Schlatt really loved having his subordinates put under pressure.

The forest honestly did make sense.

Wilbur Soot, Tommy, and Technoblade had fled the festival to the spruce woods, and just in case they were to try and grab Tubbo Schlatt had used the opposite direction of which was nearly in Dream territory.

God, he really was rambling to an audience of one huh.

A snap of branches from behind him made Fundy spin around quickly. If there were any close threats the Schlatt would  _ kill him _ .

Tubbo lay face first in the dirt courtesy of a vine tangled around his boots.

Fundy let out a held in breath as a long tormented sigh before reaching out his hand.

“Did you need a hand getting up?”

Tubbo meekly looked up at him with that distressing face of his.

“Sorry, I can… do it alone.”

Fundy shrugged and let him do his thing.

How was such a young kid meant to be his uncle? Even with how he was adopted it was weird.

Fundy felt as if he’d missed something major.

—————

Tubbo was escorted down a hole of which was hidden by redstone wiring.

Then once he had descended by ladder there was only a small space with two adjacent doors of which Tubbo could only assume were his living quarters.

Fundy snorted from behind him.

“I’ve got left and you have right. I think our stuff has already been put in by George or something.”

The dorite walls around him made the small space even smaller.

“T-Thank you, Fundy.”

The fox nodded before entering the room, likely to fall asleep. So then he followed suit by walking into his new living quarters.

Tubbo’s face immediately changed into a tight grin.

Someone had used yellow concrete for the floors and ceiling which was likely just because of the substance being moderately hard, also likely to have been reused from his own execution.

Why did that hurt?

Nothing other than a bed, two large chests, and basic crafting tools furnished the room. Meaning the floor and ceiling were bare and painfully obvious.

Schlatt really had a wicked sense of humor.

Also, how was he expected to sleep?

Tubbo had ‘amnesia’ and had spent about two days just sleeping. Then he was expected to fall asleep immediately after being told that Technoblade had tried to kill him but instead left permanently scarring.

If all of that were true then Tubbo certainly wouldn’t be able to peacefully rest.

He lay down on the bed without depositing anything into his chest. Tubbo would get his revenge eventually, but now he had to plan.

Shadows enveloped his body as his mind got pulled into another dimension.


	6. Focus on the story

_ “Hey Tommy. Do you think once we make peace with Dream we’ll be able to live all in one big house together? Wilbur, Fundy, Eret, and me could be at the bottom because we like the garden, and you, Techno, and Philza could live at the top because you like the fresh air!” _

_ “Why do you think we’ll make peace with Dream?!” _

_ “Isn’t that the plan though?” _

_ “Tubbo, Dream is literally trying to f*cking kill us! If we don’t kill them all first then we’ll never have peace! Besides, Philza won’t be coming back again, and Techno is too crazy to join us anyway.” _

_ “Oh, well it would be nice if that happened though.” _

_ “God Tubbo, just shut up okay?! You’re so f*cking dumb!” _

_ … _

_ “Jesus Christ Tubbo! All I asked for you to do was one simple task and you even managed to f*ck that up!” _

_ “Tubbo don’t do it! You can’t betray Tommy and Wilbur!” _

_ … _

_ “Don’t worry Tubbo, he’s on our side. Technoblade is just doing an act!” _

_ “Sorry Tubbo, the peer pressure is just too strong.” _

  
  
  


***BOOM***

  
  
  


…

_ “Don’t worry Tubbo, this is who you were meant to be.” _

  
  
  


Tubbo woke up frantically scratching at his chest and huffed out short breaths while trying to calm himself down.

Why did everything hurt?! 

The emotions were GONE! He can’t feel these anymore. He  _ shouldn’t  _ feel these anymore!

Fear.

Loneliness.

Sadness.

Anger.

Why was he still  _ weak _ ?!

The sound of footsteps thumped from Fundy’s end.

Tubbo began hyperventilating and just  _ what could he do?! _

Being a Demon should have solved all this! There wasn’t time to fail from his own weakness. It was meant to be gone!

He’d have to use this to his advantage.

Fundy kicked down his door and Tubbo sent scared eyes his way.

—————

Sh*t.

Fundy had heard sobbing from the other room and immediately woke incase of any fugitives who might have invaded.

Only once he got inside Fundy found a very different scene from what he had been expecting, nor one he was equipped to deal with in his netherite armour.

Tubbo sat with a bloated face and tears streaming down his cheeks. He was obviously shivering and flinched at the sight of a fully prepared Fundy.

His puffed eyes held so much terror and fear that Fundy just froze.

Why…  _ was  _ he so scared?

Fundy gulped and then shuffled over to sit on one of Tubbo’s chests before speaking.

“Are… are you okay?”

Tubbo just rubbed his eyes and faced the other direction after a strong sniff.

“I’m f- I’m fine… j-just a nightmare.”

Well, that was the face of somebody who was obviously  _ not  _ fine.

“Do you… do you want to talk about it?”

Another sniff came from the boy, before a reluctant

“Yes… I-I don’t know  _ what  _ it was anyway.”

Had Fundy seriously been woken up for this?! Geeze, Tubbo was a cry baby but to cry over something he can’t even remember?!

Fundy was then snapped out of his thoughts by Tubbo’s next statement.

“I-I don’t know  _ why  _ b-but there was yellow concrete all around me! It was… scary.”

Wait.

OH F*CK!

Was Tubbo’s memories coming back in?! Sh*t! Whatever Schlatt had planned out could be  _ ruined _ !

It was seven fifteen in the morning and Schlatt would be expecting Tubbo soon. Fundy could just escort the kid over to Schlatt a bit earlier than expected and then talk to the president first about whatever had happened.

First, he had to deal with Tubbo.

“I-It must just be claustrophobia from the rooms! Yeah, you probably felt a bit trapped in here, right Tubbo?”

Tubbo meekly nodded in reply. Shivers still racking down his body.

“Look just… get changed and we can see Schlatt a bit earlier than expected! I, uh, had something I needed to say to him first so you’ll be on time.”

The clock had only just struck seven thirty when the two of them arrived at the Whitehouse. Fundy cringed and could only hope that Schlatt was awake at such an early hour.

The fox hybrid checked that Tubbo was seated in an out of sight corner before he entered the president’s room.

  
  
  


Fundy noticed that Schlatt’s sideways pupils shrunk from the light that entered the room. What an oddly specific thing to see when heading to his own doom.

Sweat dripped down Fundy’s forehead as Schlatt wordlessly finished his paperwork, then sat up straight with his fingers laced together.

“Now, why are you in my office at such an early time Fundy?”

Schlatt smiled. His perfectly polished horns reflecting off of some unknown light source.

“I-I have something to report? Sir.”

God. What if something was his fault? It’d only been sheer luck that Schlatt let him over to the side of Manberg.

Then Tubbo just  _ had  _ to screw up everything like normal.

“Well,  _ spit it out  _ then!”

Fundy gulped.

“This morning Tubbo woke up distressed. I-I believed it was just a regular nightmare but he told me that it was about him being trapped in yellow concrete which made me think that…”

Schlatt was staring at him unemotionally. Fundy had to continue.

“M-My thinking was that he might start remembering just what- what happened! I don’t know what you needed him for but if-”

“Oh Fundy. This is actually good news for us.”

Schlatt cut him off mid sentence. Fundy could do nothing but stare at the ram in shock. Was it?!

Schlatt just carried on.

“Tell Tubbo he can come in when I call him. He can stand to wait for a few minutes.”

Fundy could only nod.

—————

Once Fundy had left the room Schlatt descended into giggles.

Oh this was just perfect!

Tubbo’s recovery was obviously from the use of some kind of healing magic. There were no  _ known  _ citizens who had a health god's blessing!

Oh yes, he knew about the gods and their blessings. Despite how secretive Dream and Technoblade were, a president had to have their own knowledge!

Blessings from gods were, to the most of his knowledge, exceedingly rare.

Dream ran the small kingdom next to Manberg and was the best fighter in terms of intelligence as well as superior tactics.

Technoblade often spoke of his god, however most never realised that it was a blessing bestowed upon him instead of a title. A scary arcanist that was the deadliest being around, and was the one who shot Tubbo in the first place.

Tubbo himself obviously had no trace of a blessing on him and should have remembered if he were the one blessed.

That kid had been the worst at lies.

So it must be someone unconnected.

If it were Wilbur then why bother with the whole Technoblade charade? If that man had a blessing then he wouldn’t have gone without announcing a thing. 

No, it can’t be anyone on his side.

Then just  _ who  _ was it?!

Dream?

The  _ Badlands _ ?

If Tubbo was getting his memories back then that just meant that they could find out just who healed him.

If Schlatt had to f*cking kill him again then fine.

All for the sake of Manberg.


	7. Follow through your plan

“Come in Tubbo! I’m ready for you now.”

Well, it sounded almost as if Schlatt was scheming something.

Tubbo hunched over and nervously strode inside the gaping maw of a door. Emotions from before his change were memories as if he would be eaten were shoved away.

He was stronger than this.

“I-I’m here Schlatt. Did you… want something?”

Yes. He  _ was _ strong. Strong enough to keep fooling everyone. That everyone  _ including  _ the man who ordered his death.

Schlatt smiled gleefully.

“I heard that you had a nightmare last night! Must have been  _ awful _ for you to go through right? I mean, it might be your memories trying to come back from when you got hurt! Wouldn’t that be a shame.”

Oh. A  _ shame  _ would it?

Tubbo nodded impishly, turning his head back towards the door as if wishing he could leave.

All the actions had to be utterly perfect for Schlatt to believe him. So perfect they would be.

—————

Tubbo was obviously terrified of him.

Being a goat hybrid was challenging when growing up in the small town of Granite of which was long gone since an unknown assailant.

Oftentimes children and even parents would joke about his heritage. As if the fact that the entire shape shifters population had been sacrificed and only left the hybrid half kids was funny.

Schlatt had the fortune of being a second generation hybrid of which meant less of his prey animal instincts showed, but minor features such as the soft ears and fluffy tail gave the looks of an innocent boy.

Oh how he wanted the world.

The horns grew in around the time that an ‘unidentified’ arson burnt everything to the ground, excluding him who’d been tied to a fence as a prank, and another bullied kid who was two years older than him that had arrived with his family two months ago.

The flames burnt beautifully on wood while delicious smoke licked at his lungs.

It had felt so liberating that Schlatt vowed to see such power again.

This brown haired kid in front of him was just a weak little boy of whom was ripe for the picking.

His grin grew wider. How might this fruit rot?

“I’ve thought about my previous actions towards you. These past few days you’ve been under a lot of stress so I believe that instead of a long junky speech I’ll just bring you up to the podium just like when I was originally elected.”

Tubbo flinched. Likely because of the memories of Wilbur and Tommy and how, to the best of his knowledge, they had betrayed him.

“All  _ you _ need to do, Tubbo, is come with me and then say a few words on how much pain you feel or the memory loss. I really don’t care as long as it’s no state secrets.”

This was just so _ easy _ !

Manipulation was really one of the most fun things to do and the real kicker was that  _ even if _ TommyInnit were to save the day, Tubbo wouldn’t know who to trust!

Technoblade had obviously been on Wilbur’s side since the beginning and that sort of doubt would fuel any future interactions. Leading the opposing side to madness!

JSchlatt was the f*cking boss of this town baby!

No more goat kid or freak. Now he was the top predator!

Those kids who brought out their daddy’s guns were  _ long _ dead now. Those kids who chased a young hybrid just because of his differences to them had become ashes in the wind after they died painfully when stuck under their mothers corpse, unable to flee the house but knowing their victim was alive.

He was the  _ motherf*cking  _ president baby!

“W-when is the a-announcement going to be?”

Schlatt’s face fell.

Leave it to  _ Tubbo _ to bring him out of his hype.

The stupid loser was an eyesore!

“You’ve got to fix that stuttering problem kid.”

Schlatt disdainfully peered over to Tubbo from the corner of his eye to see that the boy flinched.

He sighed.

“I’ll be setting up for the announcement in half an hour. Afterwards you can do whatever the hell you want as long as before then you don’t show neither a hide nor a hair of your body.”

Both eyes rolled over to face the window. The window which revealed his shiny perfect nation that was under his control.

Amazing. He was amazing.

“Y-yes sir, sorry sir.”

Still a stutter.

“I shouldn’t have expected anymore from you huh. Go to your office or something, do anything useful like papers and I’ll send Quackity over to get you once I’m ready.”

The kid bolted out the door immediately leaving Schlatt to reminisce over his childhood.

_ “Hey Schlatt! Wanna play together again?” _

_ Deep brown eyes peered into his soul. Calculating that Schlatt had the biggest chance of friendship out of any other kids. Why did the boy feel as so? What were his true feelings? True desires? _

_ “Stay away from me!” _

A fire can be started by the simplest of actions. As well as the simplest of people.

—————

“Citizens of Manberg!”

Schlatt began his announcement while Tubbo tuned it out.

Yes, he’d managed to turn the whole nightmare around, but why did he have one in the first place?

Was there something wrong with him? Did some kind of catalyst occur which might sap away at his demon powers, or was he meant to get the emotions back?

He didn’t want to be stuck in the dark again.

Now, what should say for his short speech? Schlatt obviously wanted him to try and bring chaos to Pogtopia and order to his own subjects.

Sort of like a ‘even death will not bring us to ruin’ meaning.

Most likely Schlatt just wanted another thing to taunt Wilbur and Tommy with though.

“The  _ real  _ reason for this announcement today is because of a certain problem from our festival.”

The crowd went silent and Tubbo tuned back in. Schlatt would want this to be perfect.

“Now, we all know about how Technoblade betrayed our side and left with Wilbur Soot as well as TommyInnit after a certain accident. However, we have some good news!”

Quackity, who hadn’t said a word to Tubbo yet nudged him out to walk onto the stage.

Gasps and shouts arose from the audience to his arrival. Schlatt smiled as a distinctly female voice cried out in terror and Tubbo flinched.

“Imagine  _ my surprise  _ when we found our dear old Secretary of State unconscious and totally healed right by the borders of our land! There are of course a few memory problems, but we’ll make do.”

Schlatt motioned for him to come forwards to the mic.

“Give it up for Tubbo!”

“I-I, uh, d-don’t really know much about what happened?”

Niki’s face stared up to him in horror. She must have definitely thought that he was dead, by why was BadBoyHalo sitting next to her?

There was something off about him.

However, this wasn't the time to think but to act.

“E-everything really hurts… and I don’t have a-any recollection of what happened but… I hope everyone else was safe.”

Schlatt nodded to him, as if Tubbo hadn’t just delivered the worst most thought out speech ever.

“He’s still a bit muddled from that incident, poor guy, I just wanted to alert everyone important in case of someone thinking he was a former human zombie and attacked!”

The goat hybrid got more serious as he looked out to the audience.

“Just don’t bring up what happened in case of any PTSD okay everyone?”

Well, that was a threat towards everyone in the whole server.

Don’t tell Tubbo that the festival was his own public execution.

—————

“WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU MEAN?! YOU MUST BE F*CKING SH*TTING ME OVER HERE WILBUR!”

TommyInnit was panicking.

Tubbo had been f*cking exploded into smithereens in front of him!

No way it was Tubbo that lived. Some kind of f*cking look alike was what must have been!

Wilbur just shook his head.

“Tommy… it was really him. I don’t know  _ how _ Schlatt did it but somehow, in  _ some way _ . Tubbo is alive.”

No. Wilbur wouldn’t lie to him. Wilbur at least was the one constant in his life.

“F*ck, it’s like some kind of god’s on Schlatt’s side. You said Tubbo doesn’t remember his own f*cking execution?!”

Wilbur just smiled at his antics.

“Don’t worry. I think we have our own gods rooting for us.”


	8. Watch those who are weaker

“Now that everyone knows you’re alive why don’t you go back to your own home and take a little break? Make some kind of redstone contraption or whatever you do in your free time.”

Tubbo was walking across the wooden path to his house and briefly remembered Schlatt’s words.

He had a full day to do whatever he wanted to. So what plans should he begin?

Maybe he should start with something he couldn’t try before..

Opening the door he went over to his chest to bring out raw mutton.

Perfect.

Setting the mutton down in the centre of his floor Tubbo began to concentrate as hard as he could.

Not a single distraction could occur or this might become a  _ terrible _ mess.

The air around him grew darker until finally-

A buzz whizzed through the air startling him from his task.

The buzz was an alert from a sensor made of shadows saying that somebody was coming towards him and was definitely going at high speeds.

Who was it?

A crack sounded from his wall and a familiar face poaked its way through.

Well, it seems like  _ that  _ plan would be beginning today.

Tubbo sucked in a gasp of air

“T-Tommy?!”

The other boy grimenced and pushed his way into the house before hugging him tightly.

A hug.

It was… warm.

“F-F*ck man. I didn’t think I’d ever see your ugly mug again!”

That was the sound of poorly hidden tears. Well, Tommy had seen him die. However that brought about the question. Why had Technoblade killed him if it wasn’t to betray Pogtopia?

Yes, the hug was warm, yes those were real tears.

The meaning behind everything though?

Everything left a sour taste in Tubbo’s mouth.

He had to answer!

“T-Tommy… I-I-”

Fake tears made their way to his eyes and Tubbo pulled away to softly stare at Tommy in disbelief.

“D-Did I really get s-shot by Technoblade?”

Tommy didn’t answer but instead stood there with slightly misty eyes.

“Tubbo. Schlatt hasn’t told you the whole truth.”

—————

F*ck, what had that goat done to Tubbo?!

He looked practically starved and done. Then there was the fact that his  _ entire memory  _ of the festival was gone!

Wilbur told him all the details about Schlatt’s morning announcement and how Tubbo might have been comprimised by the enemy.

So that was exactly what Tommy would find out.

He had shakingly packed a netherite sword that was borrowed from Technoblade just in case of a bad scenario, or if Tubbo had spilt any secrets and was on Schlatt’s side.

Tommy sure hoped that he wouldn’t have to use it or the invisibility potion.

Thankfully he’d managed to sneak into Tubbo’s house undetected, and found Tubbo without any problems yet.

How could he explain it though?

The events of that day had been so chaotic and twisted.

“Look, Tubbo, could we sit down for a bit?”

He nodded to Tommy’s request and brought the two of them over to a simple wooden table and seats.

“I-I can handle it.”

Tubbo just looked so  _ confused  _ and  _ scared _ .

“It might be a bit… overwhelming. Just please hear the full story okay?”

Tommy had to tell him.

“The festival… it wasn’t actually a festival.”

_ Those eyes! _

Tubbo fully trusted him, and it made him feel so guilty.

“You said a speech, do you remember when we help plan that?”

“Y-Yeah?”

Tubbo responded. He just looked so innocent and different from the explosion that had turned him into particles of a bloody mist in the air without a body to be found.

“When you finished your speech we couldn’t find the button. Then Schlatt and Quackity boxed you in on the stage.”

Tubbo was looking at him in horror.

“T-Then-”

Tommy breathed in, and out.

“Schlatt made someone shoot a bunch of fireworks at you, while you were concreted in a small box.”

Tubbo flinched and began to shiver.

F*ck.

If Tommy had just told him the truth then Tubbo might not trust them anymore!

It was a completely safe decision! Tubbo trusted him more than anybody else and Wilbur would agree with his actions!

Wilbur would have definitely done the same thing, so it was fine.

Totally fine.

“I-I’m just so  _ glad  _ it wasn’t you guys!”

Tears poured down Tubbo’s face which gave him a screwed up expression as snot dripped from his nostrils.

Tommy felt disgusted, and knew that it wasn’t just from his friend but his own actions.

So he produced a tissue from his pocket and gave it to Tubbo. It was done and over with now. Everything was  _ fine _ .

So he did what he knew best. Made a joke.

“For f*cks sake man! Those scars will definitely drive all the women over to me when they see you!”

Tubbo let out a small chuckle which Tommy branded as a success.

“Wilbur only told me an hour ago that you were in the land of the living! For the past few days Pogtopia has been  _ intense  _ if you know what I’m saying?”

The other boy nodded with a bigger smile than before.

“And you’d never guess what happened! Bad really stepped up his game and made a new nation that’s neutral!”

Tubbo looked shocked. Well, obviously seeing as BadBoyHalo wasn’t seen as the sort who would be good as a leader.

This reaction was good though!

“I know right?! He’s been going over to Schlatt for the past few days to sign some whatever documents and went over to Dreams territory to get permission from Eret!”

Tommy huffed then at his next thought.

“I can’t believe he didn’t even bother asking for Wilbur’s permission. Wilbur is like, the f*cking best!”

Tubbo snorted.

“How would Bad know where Wilbur was?”

Oh yeah. Well, it wasn’t like that was his fault or anything!

“Bad should have known that  _ before _ he started a nation!”

Tubbo burst out into laughter, this inciting Tommy to laugh in short bursts too.

After a few minutes of chatter Tommy got ready to leave.

How had he ever doubted Tubbo?

—————

As soon as Tommy left shadows began to whip around frantically.

That  _ lying scumbag _ !

There was an obvious bulge underneath his shirt to the side of which suggested both a sword and a potion.

If it were ‘just to protect himself’ then why would he  _ conceal  _ it?!

His physical body remained at the table glaring holes into the wood.

However it was his shadows that violently stabbed holes into the top of the table.

It looked almost as if some kind of monster had tried biting the table.

Tubbo was so fully focused on his rage that something began to happen. A change in the air. Almost as if it were-

“Hey Tubbo. Don’t worry, you can drop your whole  _ act _ around me.”

Dream lent easily against his walls.

However, the rotted and poisoned mutton was devoured easily into the darkness.


	9. Just like when we first began

Tubbo was frozen.

Dream had somehow bypassed his shadows and  _ apparently _ knew about his whole act!

F*ck, he had to say  _ something _ .

“D-D-Dream… how d-did you-”

“Oh don’t worry. I don’t get how any of your fake memory loss would have gotten by Schlatt or something. I know  _ exactly  _ what you really are!”

Holy sh*t. What the hell could he do?!

Tubbo was panicking hard when Dream continued

“You got blessed by a healing god. Didn’t you?”

Wait, what?!

The note had mentioned about how some people he knew were blessed by some kind of god.

So did Dream think that was him?

_ This could work _ .

“W-What?! Dream… I-I don’t know  _ how  _ you got i-in here but… I-I really don’t remember anything!”

Tubbo worked his panic into the statement.

Please be believable, please.

—————

Dream was knowledgeable about many things.

Many years ago in his youth he’d gotten careless and investigated the genocide of a species only to find that it was a sacrifice to a higher power.

The god of whom had been sacrificed to was a powerful war hungry being that demanded for the blood of many to be given for his blessing to be passed down onto a new vessel.

Dream had even managed to meet the vessel many times before.

For the blood god blood must be given.

However, if one god existed, then why not them all?

Dream collected all the tomes and scrolls from ancient times which depicted higher powers.

Every single scrap of knowledge that pertained to the gods was collected by him to the horror of a younger sister of whom wanted her brother back from his fairytales.

These delusions were real.

The god of wisdom and intelligence was brought down from another realm due to the sacrilege of how Dream burnt down the ancient archives and all other knowledge on gods.

His horrible actions granted him a transformation from his former self. Allowing for the name and familial attachments to be  _ severed _ and broken.

As such, the mention of gods was purely from word fairytales.

A higher being of which wasn’t useful was spread, while the archives of which had burnt took away all former knowledge that could have been used for the advancement of the human race.

However, the cost of a blessing was for the blessed to lose a sign of their humanity.

There was a reason Dream constantly wore the mask.

Tubbo definitely had the signs of a blessed being.

However, there were so many signs that didn’t make sense.

The boy didn’t have any sign of loss of humanity on the outside, unless it were something that instantly healed him!

The festival had ended in Tubbo’s body getting completely exploded. There was no way he could have lived without the help of a healer.

But the fact that he actually had  _ scars _ meant that all the wounds he had sustained were healed by Tubbo himself!

Was there any way this blessing could be passed on?

Dream had briefly entertained the thought that it was someone else who had healed the boy.

Then the voices around him began to stir in a way they hadn’t done around Tubbo before.

As an effect of the blessing Dream could hear the voices of dead ancestors long gone.

The dead race of Romans spoke of betrayal and death.

Romans were the only voices who had still stayed with him through all that time.

_ tHAt Boy IS uNnaTUral _

_ SCaRy _

_ tHeRE iS a DArKnES arOuND HiM _

Which raised another question.

If a sacrifice was needed for a blessing, then what did Tubbo give?

The gods reigned over their universe as if it were a particularly interesting snow globe according to the long burnt records. They only cared about those of whom were even more interesting than others and violated the code of mortals.

In the short while before Tubbo was found what did he do?

What  _ could  _ Tubbo do?

Did the healing work on others? Was there anyway to kill him or would Dream have to live with a possible threat.

This was what he needed to find out.

So why did Tubbo look like he was telling the truth?!

Dream was snapped out of his thoughts to reply to Tubbo.

“How could you just  _ forget _ a blessing?! There is  _ no way _ you could be telling the truth to me right now!”

He brought his netherite sword up to the quaking Tubbo’s neck who only looked both confused and scared.

“I-I don’t even know what a blessing i-is!”

Dream peered closer to Tubbo’s eyes and then came to a conclusion.

—————

“Sh*t.”

Dream lowered his sword and rubbed at the centre of his forehead.

“I didn’t think you were telling the truth!”

Tubbo had done it!

His gut quieted down from the spasms of nervousness that had previously ate at him. These emotions hadn’t gone away-

“So, you don’t know what a blessing is, huh?”

Dream completely put away his sword and stared to him with an unreadable expression.

“I-I really don’t-”

“Fine.”

Dream huffed, cutting him off.

The masked man looked back up towards him.

“I can tell you everything if you want. I could even say about the festival details that Tommy didn’t tell you about.

Tubbo faked a forced breath and shocked expression.

“W-what? W-why would you tell me  _ anything  _ true?! I-I trust Tommy!”

Dream only cocked his head to the side and put in a bit of humor to his voice.

“You sound unsure about that. You know Tommy the best Tubbo, so you must have realised that he sounded  _ awfully  _ guilty. Did you also notice that sword and invisibility potion that he hid from you? Why would he do that if you guys  _ trust  _ each other so much.”

What might make Dream think he caught him?

“T-Tommy wouldn’t do what y-you made Eret do to us.”

Tubbo suddenly thought that the masked figure would have smiled, and perhaps he did.

“Exactly my point Tubbo. Trust isn’t as end all do all as you must know, especially seeing as you  _ were  _ Pogtopia’s spy against Schlatt.”

Tubbo stopped in his tracts. Willing small tears to fill the corners of his eyes.

“H-how do you  _ know _ -”

“I know  _ everything  _ Tubbo! The gods are more real than a myth or fairytale, I got blessed by the god of wisdom! Technoblade also got a blessing by the ‘blood god’ as he even says to everyone. I also know that  _ you are blessed too. _ ”

Tubbo gasped and remembered to flinch back at the hand Dream put on his shoulder.

“A-a  _ god?! _ They can’t exist!”

Dream then chuckled as if he found Tubbo’s fake emotions amusing.

“They do exist Tubbo! At the festival when Schlatt ordered your execution and Wilbur and Tommy watched while Technoblade shot you with fireworks you  _ somehow  _ got blessed.”

Tears fell down from his eyes. At least Dream hadn’t lied to his face like the last few people. This blatent manipulation though? He would have thought better of the man.

“Yes. They  _ all  _ watched while you exploded on stage to such a degree potions probably wouldn’t have done anything to.”

Dream let out another chuckle.

“You’ve been blessed by some sort of healing god within the short amount of time you were away and managed to heal but still retain scarring. An impossible feat for all know medicines!”

What was Dream’s point? This was just some long and bordering monologue about how he was betrayed.

Something within him was rising to the words Dream was saying. Definitely not the sort of emotion that would benefit others, but a familiar soaking Hate burned inside of him.

Was Dream planning to-

“Tubbo, would you like to help me destroy both Manberg, and Pogtopia.”

Oh, this was honestly the best thing that could have happened to him.


	10. Create a disruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had to post this like four hours early because I have a dance show today that’ll take up all my time. During the show though I’ll be writing chapters.

“I’ve signed all of the official document and sh*t. So yada yada yada the Badlands are now an official city. You’ll have to ask if you want to make any major changes or if any people want to switch states they’ll have to get  _ my  _ signature first.”

Schlatt handed the signed papers over to BadBoyHalo with suspicion.

AntFrost had already gone over to his side and Skeppy was an obvious citizen due to the strong attachments he and BadBoyHalo or ‘Bad’ had.

It was just that something didn’t sit quite right with him.

Maybe it was that the pure BadBoyHalo was going to become the leader of an new city that was sure to be popular, or maybe it was how AntFrost didn’t seem to have ever had a strong friendship with the guy.

Was it how Bad was associated with Dream?

How Skeppy hadn’t been seen for months?!

Or maybe it was just at how  _ nice  _ the demonic looking person in front of him was, contrary to his own name,

…

Within half an hour of signing the documents Niki pulled up to his office, ready to transfer.

—————

“I-I won’t do it!”

Tubbo made sure he visibly flinched as Dream moved his sword from on hand to the other.

The older man in question just sighed as if baffled.

“You’ve been betrayed by all your friends and have  _ no  _ allies. Are you sure you don’t want to re-think my offer?”

Tubbo pulled himself into the corner of his house as if to try and get as far away from Dream as possible.

Really, it was hard to not let slip the sarcastic smile which came from manipulating manipulators.

“Tubbo,  _ I get it _ ! You don’t want to hurt anyone! If you team up with me then we can destroy  _ both  _ corrupt governments from the inside.”

“I don’t want to hurt Tommy!”

Tubbo shouted.

If this were some kind of performance then he should have gotten the grand prize!

He’d never forgotten his goal bestowed upon by the  **s o m e t h i n g,** which was to kill every living person in the whole server.

By getting on Dreams side he would be able to secretly kill off any influential people in a way that would still conceal his Demonic powers before a dramatic reveal.

Oh he couldn’t  _ wait  _ for that reveal.

“You wouldn’t have to kill Tommy, Tubbo. All I want you to do for me is give me some intel on Schlatt or Wilbur if you can! I just want to help out a fellow blessed one. Also, I don’t even want to kill any of them!”

That lying-

“All I am going to do is take the throne and make sure that  _ everyone _ loses their powers and we don’t have to have any  _ cities _ or  _ governments _ that might screw everything over again!”

Dream lent closer in as if to tell a secret. His green jacket worn over netherite armour slightly wrinkled.

“In fact, I also spoke to Technoblade about this and he agrees. He only cares about battles and freedom from the government which is the whole reason why he shot you in the first place. The pressure from others to do it.”

Tubbo shivered.

“A-are you sure that… no one will b-be killed?”

Dream’s non-expresive mask just looked at him.

“I  _ promise _ .”

What a lying scumbag.

“Oh yeah! Wilbur is acting under my control right now, not that he knows exactly what I’m wanting to do. He also want to end Manberg but still wants that power for himself. I haven’t told him about how the goal isnt just to end all fights but also to destroy all power held by other people. Wouldn’t you like everyone to be equal Tubbo?”

Wilbur had agreed to something  _ Dream _ told him to do?

Well that was a surprise.

He should probably agree to Dream’s proposal. Even though it was  _ obviously  _ completely untrue about the power being stripped away from himself this would also effect Tubbo.

“I… I will help. B-but I won’t hurt Tommy!”

“I won’t ask you to. Even though he would have killed you and even helped try to I admire your commitment to him! I do suppose that he is your brother though. Wilbur too.”

Dream stretched easily and yawned.

“Well, I’ll be going now. I’m happy to hear that you’ll help though! Us blessed folk need to stick together. I’ll also help you try to regain your memory back so that you can remember how your blessing went and how you healed. I’ll be there to see you soon.”

Then the man disappeared by walking up his tunnel to the top where he probably had dug in through as to leave no noticeable traces for Schlatt to find.

Ever the careful one, Dream was.

Tubbo sat down on the floor where he was to plan out his next move.

Such a horrible visit had ended with a better outcome in the end. In fact it felt as if a higher power was allowing all of this to happen.

Maybe the  **s o m e t h i n g** really was helping him from behind the scenes.

So.

Tommy was being completely controlled by Wilbur, then Wilbur was being controlled by Dream, the Dream was being manipulated into thinking that he was in control of Tubbo.

A sheet of paper materialised out of a shadow in front of him along side a pen and Tubbo began to write what he knew.

Schlatt, Wilbur, and Dream were the main people to fear about in order of last being the hardest to deal with.

He wrote their names at the top and then added those who he knew were definitely under their control underneath.

Tommy for Wilbur. Maybe Niki too? She had been firmly on Pogtopia’s side from the beginning.

Under Schlatt he wrote down Quackity and Fundy. Disregarding George of whom was probably on Dream’s side as a spy.

Finally under Dream he wrote Wilbur, Sapnap, Eret, and George as the definites.

Technoblade was an outlier so he made a small box from the now known to be blessed.

A star was put under his and Dream’s names.

There were other people for sure of whom might be working for a particular side, however most of them weren’t as important as others.

BadBoyHalo suddenly arose to his mind.

Bad was starting a new nation according to Tommy.

This might actually be big news.

Bad always had  _ seemed _ to be the nicest person around, but what if there were ulterior motives behind his actions?

A chill went down his spine as Tubbo remembered that BadBoyHalo was often joked to be a Demon.

There was no way.

The  **s o m e t h i n g** had written that there were no other possible Demons in the server!

There was literally no way that Bad was a Demon.

It just  _ couldn’t  _ be possible!

There was definitely something to fear about BadBoyHalo though.

Another name was added to the top of the list.


	11. Watch what they do next

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe the latest stream Tubbo really just did that but I really hope he has a plan because he did say that it was just a role play after in the raid but I demand compensation for my heart.

Being at the top was lonely, Eret thought.

He was known throughout the server as a traitor of whom had become king.

However, at what cost?

Each day the crown on top of his head grew a little heavier. The air being thicker. His body deteriorating from the task of sitting upon his throne in Dream team territory.

Ha. Even  _ he _ knew that was a joke.

Eret was nothing but a figure head at most.

A puppet being controlled by Dream as a scapegoat for any plan that might end them all in hot water.

He did deserve it though.

Eret betrayed everyone.  _ He  _ was the starting point for all of their current events. If  _ he  _ hadn’t betrayed Wilbur then maybe none of this would have happened.

The hard marble of the throne was painful compared to the soft grass outside of the drug van.

Why couldn’t he go back to that?

Everything was just so difficult. He wanted to build houses with Niki and Tubbo again. Talk to Fundy for hours again. Mess around with Tommy again!

Wilbur however…

**_What was that what are you doing sTay aWAy fROM ME GET AWAY LEAVE ME ALONE-_ **

Why… did he feel faint all of a sudden?

  
  
  


What was he thinking about?!

Eret huffed and straightened his posture.

This had been his choice to desert L’Manberg!

What was unbeknown to Eret was that he had forgotten something very important. Something that might have even changed the tides of war.

—————

“Tubbo! Good to see you there!”

Schlatt walked up to him from the front of the White House as the boy in question shivered.

Of course, this was still a practiced move to display in front of whoever he could.

It had been three days since both Tommy and Dream had shown up uninvited to his bunker.

After finishing up his planning paper he had packed it away in a shadow so that there was an absolute zero percent chance of someone finding it.

After all, everyone did seem to know where his formerly secret house under the water was. If someone were to accidentally stumble upon it and figure out his new powers then everything would be over.

His task, his revenge, his  _ life _ .

This was revenge.

What a strange feeling.

Taking revenge for all the struggles he’d been put through by former friends and family.

It had come to him in a dream the word revenge.

Tubbo thought that it fit the excited burning in his gut.

“I’ve got just a small task for you today! Just because you’ve recovered from a life threatening situation doesn’t mean that you can slack off all the time.”

Hah! Typical of Schlatt.

Tubbo looked nervously down towards the concrete pavement as if resigning himself to fate.

“Y-yes Mr President Sir?”

The goat hybrid let out an amused huff.

“I’m glad you’ve become a lot more agreeable since your injury. Anyway, I want to get you to set up some trade agreements as the Secretary of State. Nothing very complicated now, just for you to go and set some trade agreements with the Badlands.”

Tubbo’s ears perked up at the name.

The Badlands had been amougst the latest gossip in town ever since Niki’s bakery had shut down.

BadBoyHalo had stepped up his game and created a new nation against the divide and managed to recruit the main food supplier to his side immediately.

As well as that there were rumours that Awesamdude had joined their crew leaving the Badlands with a probable five residents.

A large amount when compared to how many of them there were, and also having a larger population than Pogtopia.

This was mainly attributed to Bad’s happy vibes and unlikelyness to become a dictator.

He had heard a conversation by two hidden citizens of Manberg about whether or not Eret, Schlatt, and Bad might create an oligarchy to rule.

Tubbo really doubted any of the three would agree to that.

Schlatt continued his explanation of the task.

“Since Niki’s left us for their side, oh course you  _ must _ have heard that, most of our farms and supplies have also gone over to their side. I want you to deliver my terms in a folder to them and if they have any questions answer them as long as it’s no state secrets.”

Firm hands passed a red folder over to him which wasn’t too heavy, suggesting only a small amount of papers inside.

Suddenly the goat hybrid leant close to his ear and whispered darkly

“If you  _ dare _ to f*ck this thing up then you’ll wish that Technoblade had killed you rather than what I’ll do to you so don’t you  _ f*cking  _ mess this up!”

Tubbo fakes a chill on the outside and flinched away. As if  _ Schlatt  _ would be able to hurt him permanently with his threats.

He’d gone through something much more painful.

“I-I  _ won’t  _ Mr President! I-I’ll get it done!”

Schlatt smiled evilly at the words.

“I’ll send Fundy with you too. So just as long as nothing major happens you should be fine. However, if you f*cking think about maybe switching sides? I’ll end you.”

Tubbo just nodded.

“Yes M-Mr president.”

—————

Schlatt wasn’t a stupid person.

_ He _ could see that Tubbo f*cking knew something again and probably had since idiot lover boy had sent over Tommy f*cking Innit to  _ his territory _ .

Yeah, Tommy wasn’t as f*cking  _ slick _ as he thought he was.

He’d seen the kid both crouched and uncrouched just strutting around as if he knew the place, then just disappearing into the hole that Tubbo lived in.

What, did he think that  _ every _ single citizen on Manberg was  _ blind _ ?!

God, people had even reported to him that they seen Tommy prowling around in the shadows.

He could at least had  _ some _ form of cover.

Tubbo the next day been even more unresponsive than before and flinched whenever he saw Schlatt or Quackity.

It was so obvious that Tubbo had been told something by Tommy that he even had to specifically tell his Vice President not to say a word about it to anyone else.

If Tubbo had been told the truth by his friend then he might end up as a deserter from both sides, so he would have been told a lie.

That would also leave him being sceptical of both sides seeing as there was no way Tommy could come up with something completely convincing with the evidence around.

So, his master plan was to have an unknowing mole for the two unaccounted for sides.

Tubbo wasn’t just a simple pawn as it turned out.

Someone had taken the time to heal him, and to find out who Schlatt would send the boy into unfriendly territory in hopes that the Badlands see such a poor soul and let him in.

Dream however was a different story.

Eret had said before that all were welcomed in his palace and had a soft spot for Tubbo seeing as they were former allies but both technically became traitors.

But Dream was smart.

He’d probably already realised that Schlatt’s best chance to gain blackmail on him would be through a mole. Also the two had been on opposite sides during the revolution.

Yes, Eret would be the only way in.

The man was deluded into thinking that all people should have a second chance because of his own experiences.

Really, it was obvious that the only reason he acted this way was to justify himself as being above everyone.

‘A pure soul’?!

Laughable.

Tubbo was the key.

Even more so an  _ expendable  _ key, that could be replaced by a strategic sacrifice of a more useful piece on the chessboard.

Because at the end of the day? He was the player.


	12. For the friend who’ve passed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m still raging from the latest stream no please tell me Tubbo has a plan PLEASE MY HEART CANT TAKE THIS

“Oh, Tubbo!”

BadBoyHalo had finally spotted him waiting by a giant duck he and Skeppy had made.

Bad ran up to him and all Tubbo could think was that he  _ looked  _ the same. As well as that there was the acting that seemed pretty real and Fundy snorted from behind him.

However, he knew better than anyone that a face could be controlled, actions too.

“Tubbo! Hi! I'm so sorry, I would have thought that either Schlatt or George would be coming! I asked for Quackity to not be the one to do it since he gets on my nerves but I didn’t realise that would mean  _ you’d  _ have to do it! You should be lying down in bed!”

He forced his body to relax and let out a fake sigh of relief, as if he were happy to be closer to Bad then Schlatt.

At least he knew just how much of a threat Schlatt posed.

“I-I’m really fine Bad! I-I don’t really… I don’t remember i-it anyway.”

The man in question gave an empathetic look.

“That doesn’t mean that you didn’t suffer for it anyways. How could Schlatt make you go back to work?! What a muffin head!”

Tubbo unconsciously nodded.

“Schlatt may be the president but that doesn’t mean he can walk all over you! Would you like me to talk to him about it?”

Wait, that was manipulation.

BadBoyHalo was  _ intentionally  _ playing himself as the good guy and Schlatt as the bad! Guess it was a definite sign that something was going on behind the scenes here in the Badlands.

“Thank you for the o-offer, but I’ll stay with Manberg.”

Reduce the amount of stutter as if he feels safer. Reel him in.

“Do you want to come inside for a bit? Ant made a giant animal sanctuary and I think that there are some bees in there! Also if you wanted to we could sit down and chill with some tea.”

Bad shot him a pleading look.

“If it’s okay…”

—————

Tubbo stood by the bees with a childlike glee expressing on his face.

BadBoyHalo couldn’t help but feel sorry for him after what he must been through and now what he must put the boy through once again.

Gods, why was this so hard?

Yes, he was desperate, but this had to happen all for him.

Skeppy had been his best friend since thick and thin. Bad just had to follow his orders and then everything would go  _ fine _ .

It was horrible how he had to conduct Skeppy’s orders though.

People had tryed to kill the diamond fusion for the entire time that Bad knew him.

So many people wanted the unimaginable wealth that Skeppy had held back in the days before netherite armour was common place and diamond tools the minimum advantage.

Being a bat hybrid wasn’t easy, but it allowed him to have met his best friend in an underground cave.

Then now, they were unstoppable together.

It was Skeppy’s idea to form the Badlands. A place completely apart from all the wars and looting around them.

Then Ant had joined them and they were settled! They could make a whole new nation away from L’Manberg and the Dream Team!

It was then that Schlatt came to power and Bad realised something.

Now war was occurring and it meant that everything was just so much better for them!

Skeppy never left his room anymore. But he definitely agreed!

That was because the two of them discovered something together many years before.

Something that would have given absolute power to whoever were to gain ahold of it.

That something was a very burnt book that had been buried under ruins far beneath the surface.

However, the powers had such a large price to gain that Bad didn’t want to do it originally.

Skeppy had assured him that it would be okay.

Now they needed someone to be their sacrificial piece. Someone that the two of them would have to put in the line of fire whenever Skeppy were to wake back up again.

Tubbo was perfect.

There he was innocently playing with the five bees he’d specifically asked Ant to gather for this exact moment.

Fundy hadn’t said a word the entire time. Just standing from a moderate distance.

Something told him that if he tryed to recruit Fundy to his side Schlatt would immediately be told and then get leverage on him, that being dangerous and a potential threat to his and Skeppy’s visions.

This could  _ not _ happen.

“Hey Bad, I brought three cups of tea for you guys.”

Ant walked over with the tea on a iron platter and Bad stood up eagerly to take it off of him.

“Thank you Ant!”

The cat hybrid in turn smiled back to him.

“You’re welcome Bad! I’m going over to the llama pen because I think they should be about to breed soon.”

After Ant had walked away he brought the platter over to Tubbo and Fundy after taking his own cup.

“I’ve got some milk tea for you guys! I didn’t know if you would want so I just picked the sweetest I had!”

Tubbo eagerly took a cup.

“Thank you Bad! I don’t think I’ve had tea in so long!”

His stutter that had been so prominent before was gone.

Fundy just shook his head at the offered tea before replying

“The smell’s to strong for me. I also don’t like the taste.”

The three of them sat on the grass in an uneasy silence, Tubbo looking almost sick with anxiety.

“So. You going to give Bad the files?”

Tubbo was seemingly shocked out of them mention and brought out from his backpack in a red case.

“T-this is the contract o-on food p-policies.”

Oh yeah, they were meeting to talk about food disruptions.

He read through the contracts absentmindedly. Making sure to note that the line stating that three quarters of the farms in Manberg would be taken out of Niki’s control seeing as she was no longer a citizen didn’t specify which farms would be taken.

“I need to speak to Niki about this first. I think she deserves to have the say on what goes seeing as it’s her who’ll be affected.”

Tubbo nodded while Fundy gave a snort like before.

“Oh! Please just stay here while I get her! I’ll only be a moment!”

Bad then walked off into the major hallway until he was out of sight and strode through a painting to a less traveled hallway,

Yes. Everything for Skeppy.


	13. Risk another’s neck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I swear these people need full time therapay

Fundy warily looked around them for any traces of a trap.

Not that it was likely, but now?

Nothing was certain anymore.

Tubbo had risen from the f*cking dead, and now Schlatt wanted him to be a unknowing mole for the  _ Badlands _ of all places.

Fundy hadn’t even thought that they were a threat until Schlatt had said there was something up with how they acted.

Now that he knew there was something fishy about them there was  _ no way  _ he would drink anything offered!

Tubbo was just so oblivious to it all, thinking that all people had some kind of good will or angel inside of them.

If anything it was the other way around! Every single person in this god dammed server had some kind of ulterior motive or they were being controlled.

Fundy was not going to end up as the one being controlled.

He’d kept contact with as many sides as was possible.

Hopefully former friends would remember all the fun times they’d spent together and if something went wrong with Schlatt he’d be able to bounce back.

The thought of going back to Wilbur made his chest heavy and breathing forced.

Schlatt was the only good option for a president.

At least he didn’t hide just how corrupt he was. As well as that he was actually making good changes to Manberg that benefited the lives of many.

That, of course, didn’t mean that if Schlatt were to go out of power Fundy would support him.

No. Fundy would stick with whoever was the most powerful at the time.

“Uh, Fundy. D-did want me to move over i-if the smell of the tea i-is to strong?”

He looked over to Tubbo, annoyed that he’d been brought back from his thoughts of the future.

“I’m fine.”

Tubbo nodded while looking slightly anxious and embarrassed from asking such a question.

Someone like that wouldn’t survive in this cutthroat world.

BadBoyHalo took that exact moment to reappear from a different hallway with the papers.

“I’ve signed it! Niki said she was fine as long as we got to chose which farms we have!”

Of course she had noticed that.

Tubbo looked curious though despite getting the papers back, and then went to ask a question.

“Is Niki sick? If she isn’t then would i-it be okay if I were to visit her? We haven’t talked for so long…”

Bad smiled at that.

“Sorry! She actually is sick at the moment! Don’t worry, I read the forms out to her from behind a door so that no sickness would escape!”

Tubbo grinned back at him innocently.

“I could you tell her that I’m sorry we couldn’t talk a-after my incident? I hope she gets better soon!”

Fundy stood shocked behind Tubbo.

Holy sh*t.

There was no way Niki would have missed a chance to talk to them about how Tubbo had lost his memory and would have definitely spilled about the execution.

If she really was sick then even that wouldn’t of held her back either.

Something really wrong was obviously happening with the Badlands!

Any doubts he’d had about Schlatt’s words were instantly gone. This was much more dangerous than anything he could have imagined!

Either Niki was doing some kind of task for them, unlikely if she knew Tubbo of all people was going to come which to be fair, she didn’t.

_ But still _ .

BadBoyHalo had  _ said _ he spoke to her without a bit of hesitation! If Tubbo hadn’t accidentally asked such an important question then he might have never known.

There were three other options.

She could be hurt and Bad didn’t want them to know why. She also could be a hostage.

Or maybe she was…

He definitely had to speak to Schlatt about this  _ immediately _ !

Good job Tubbo for your naivety!

—————

Well, it wasn’t like there was much surprise for Tubbo.

He’d asked that very question to Bad because of how strange it seemed for Niki to act as such.

Wait. If she had been killed by someone other than him did that mean he had  _ failed?! _

No no no. That couldn’t happen. The memories from the grey void were crystal clear in his mind as well as the words from the paper.

Murder wasn’t natural. Was it?

Maybe it  _ was  _ natural with how often death and war was in their server.

So many villages had fallen when he was child that it seemed normal for only a small amount of people to be around.

He knew every single person alive in his world.

Ever since the disappearance of Philza even more fights broke out.

His adopted father from when he was found abandoned in a box.

_ We have taken a close look at your childhood and noticed some points of which make you perfect for our choice of Demonic energy. _

Childhood?

What went wrong in his childhood?

**_LaNi_ **

Who was… Lani?

Why couldn’t he remember?

…

“Hey Tubbo! If you ever want to come over to the Badlands for a bit then we definitely have some space for you. Please try and get some rest!”

Bad waved goodbye to both him and Fundy as the sun set down behind them.

Mobs weren’t much of a problem with modern day weapons and supplies, so there wasn’t much to worry about at all.

“Goodbye Bad! Have a nice night!”

Tubbo waved back at him before Fundy began to escort him back.

Judging by his expression when Bad had answered his Niki question he was completely sure that the fox hybrid noticed it too and would report back to Schlatt.

Good.

“I’ll take the folder to Schlatt. I need to talk with him anyways. Just go home.”

Exactly as planned.

“Oh! Thank you F-Fundy!”

The fox hybrid looked at him without emotion before walking away.

Not one for small talk seeing as Tubbo wasn’t as useful anymore than in the days of the revolution.

Tubbo trotted on home before tiredly walking down the stairs.

Everything was going very quickly information wise, and it was getting increasingly easier to piece together a plan with what sort of wisdom he’d gotten.

A cold chill ran up his spine as he entered his bedroom.

Shadows pooled around an item hazardously held inside of one shadow he recognised as house patrol.

Tubbo reached a hand in and pulled out whatever it was. Who had entered his house uninvited?

Eyes widened as they saw the black feather held in his grasp.

Philza.


	14. Short Stories!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps the next chapter will allow you to gain more knowledge on recent events :)

Hello people! Today I have set aside some  **_funny_ ** short stories from this series for you! Don’t worry. I have the next few chapters written and ready to go for tomorrow and after that before the end times!

I just thought that you might appreciate reading some of these I thought about on the spot!

  
  
  
  
  


**1: Romans are annoying**

Dream sat inside of their headquarters while waiting for Sapnap to show him whatever he’d found.

Some kind of pet or something? He didn’t really care to much about it.

Sapnap suddenly burst through the door with something in his arms.

What was that? A bucket?

The excited friend of his ran right up to him.

“This is my fish! I got him just an hour ago!”

Dream just gave it the side eye. This was what Sapnap was so excited about? A feet fish? Oh well, better act interested.

“Cool. What’d you name him?”

Sapnap grinned innocently.

“I called him Mars!”

_ MArS?! _

_ goD Of WAr! _

_ tHE FiSH iS a SAcRidE piEcE! _

_ hOW dARe a MErE FiSH hOld tHe NaME oF a GOd! _

_ I CaN REmeMbEr bACk iN mY DAy kiDS wOUldN’t jUst nAMe fISh afTeR gODs! _

The voices were going crazy!

“Shut UP!”

Dream hissed out under his breath.

Sapnap looked at him once again questioning.

“What did you say Dream? Would you like to hold Mars?”

That just set off the voices even more.

What was the point of hearing such voices if all they did was complain!

—————

**_Oh please no what are you doing to me?!_ **

—————

**2: Fundy Bebe**

Wilbur was holding a three year old Fundy in his arms of whom was struggling hard against his tight grasp.

“Please Philza! I don’t know why he hasn’t said his first word yet, and I’m beginning to think he might have a speech impediment!”

The man in question just grinned and shook his head.

“Wilbur, Fundy is going to be  _ fine _ , okay? He’s just a late talker! I remember Techno was the same as a kid. You spoke as soon as you could!”

He shook his head as the baby in his arms just gazed big eyes up at him.

“But what if he  _ isn’t  _ okay?! What if he’s been hurt badly by some kind of throat infection that if not treated will leave him mute! I don’t want my baby boy to be disadvantaged in life!”

Philza laughed wholeheartedly at his son's antics.

“I really think you need a break Wil! How does an outing sound for you?”

“I  _ can’t do an outing  _ Phil! Fundy can’t just come to the beach! He’ll burn!”

Wilbur was obviously panicked which only made things even funnier for the other man.

“By outing I meant that you could go somewhere to relax, while I look after Fundy for you! You’ve been just about the best father so far and a break would do you good.”

He gave Philza the side eye.

“I don’t know if I could trust you with him.”

“I’ve been a father to multiple children! I've raised you since the day you were born!”

Wilbur finally relented and handed the curious fox hybrid over to his grandfather who proceeded to fawn over Fundy’s pristine fur.

“If a single thing happens  _ tell me _ , okay?”

Philza nodded with wide eyes.

“Of course Wil! We’ll be right here until you get back!”

The man in question sighed and then walked over to the door.

“Be a good boy for grandpa Fundy! I love you so much.”

Then after a final glance back he left the two of them alone.

Immediately Philza set Fundy down on the floor and grinned.

“Hey pup, you want to go fishing before dad gets back?”

The fox hybrid smiled back at him with a mischievous smirk.

“Yes Grandpa.”

“That’s my boy!”

—————

**_I can’t move. Is this gravel?! Why are you doing this to me?! Please I just wanted to-_ **

—————

**3: El Rapids**

“Ay Quackity! Quick question. What the  _ hell  _ are you doing?!”

Schlatt had just walked into the strangest sight he had ever seen.

Quackity was wearing an obviously homemade Dream costume, however the colours were reversed into the flag of Mexico.

Not to mention George was also dressed up with the Mexican flag colours instead of a suit.

“EY! It’s me! Mexican Dream! Me and Jorge just made El Manberg, are you proud of us?”

The goat hybrid rubbed at his forehead as the headache in front of him continued to act stupid.

“I’m not even going to discuss the logistics on how Mexico exists, but why are you doing this at all?!”

Quackity just laughed as George, or ‘Jorge’ continued doing… whatever he was doing.

Some kind of illness was rampant in this community.

What was wrong with them?!

—————

**_LET ME OUT! I CAN'T BREATHE IN HERE!_ **

—————

Tubbo sat in his garden. Alone.

Wind whistled in his ears, almost as if they were whispering secret for only him to hear.

It was calming in the garden.

Why was everything going bad?

They were in their own little corner of the world. Or had been.

Tubbo did not know where he came from.

He’d been found in a box by Philza of whom had kindly taken him in with his own son Tommy who was about the same age.

Were they four at the time? Six?

Not many memories remained from those times.

Tubbo also had a secret that he’d kept secret from all his family members and friends.

He was claustrophobic.

There was no way he wanted to become a weakness to Wilbur who was starting up their own drug van, if he were a weak link then what might become of him?

Certainly nothing. But he didn’t want to disappoint.

Why were things so hard? Tommy always picked on him and nobody had any time for a clingy runt.

Why was he just so…

  
  
  


...useless.

  
  
  


The wind picked up and began to blow his hair wildly.

He couldn’t speak about what bothered him. No. He had to be perfect.

The perfect yes man.

  
  
  


What was unknown to him were the eyes watching his every move.

—————

**_Help… me…_ **

—————

It was on this day, that Niki died.


	15. Funny how you laugh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I might not be able to post a chapter tomorrow seeing as I’m doing an interview. I’ll try to though!

Grey emptiness surrounded him from within a dream.

Yes, Tubbo was dreaming. So why was there something else in there with him?

A blob of something lime green pulsated next to him, looking almost gelatinous in theory before widening at random intervals and then collapsing all over again.

Then just as he lent out to touch it a high pitched voice rang in his ears

“ **_Now, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Tubbo._ ** ”

He shot back his hand instantly. Somehow, that voice definitely came from the same being which had written the rules to his rebirth.

Had he failed his task?!

“ **_Haha! Nope! Not yet! Just thought that a check up was in order!_ ** ”

It could read his mind.

“ **_Yes I can! Don’t bother trying to hide your thoughts, we know them all anyways._ ** ”

Why are you here?! Tubbo desperately thought.

The grey was familiar and empty. The blob? Not so much.

“ **_This is just a device so that I can properly communicate with you! For this check up I just wanted to make sure you fully know the situation that your in._ ** ”

Somehow he highly doubted it was simply a check up and not anything else.

A chuckle rang around him in that nasally voice.

“ **_It’s perfectly fine if you don’t believe me. I’ve been giving you special attention after all! The Dream SMP world you live in desperately needed a cleansing. You are fortunately the perfect one for the job!”_ **

“What… what do you mean by that?”

Tubbo finally gathered enough courage to speak up. It felt a lot more comfortable than having his thoughts read out loud.

Somehow, he realised the thing was grinning.

“ **_I never did tell you how a Demon must be selected. Right?_ ** ”

He shook his head immediately.

“ **_Well, for one to become a Demon they must first fit a very hard to find criteria!_ ** ”

Tubbo leant forwards in anticipation. This had been a question he’d wondered about for so long. Why him? Why was  _ he _ allowed a second chance over any others?!

“ **_There are only a hundred, if even that many, Demons around. They are the only beings that can commit atrocities that could even kill gods. Until you’ve finished your cleaning of the Dream SMP you will not be considered an official Demon. However, you do have all the powers of a high ranking one._ ** ”

What? There were so few? From the way it had spoken before there must have been infinite universes.

Also, the power to kill a god?!

“ **_Seeing as I’ve formerly mentioned the Dream SMP’s massive amounts of ability I can clearly tell you that even among other Demons, you would be considered an easy top ten contender. Oh but I haven’t answered your question yet, have I!_ ** ”

For some reason, the beings' words comforted him. Tubbo wasn’t just a weakling coward.

He was powerful! He wasn’t weak anymore. He was  _ not _ just a yes man!

“ **_For a Demon to be created they must first be betrayed by all they hold dear. Then for them to finalise their transformation they must kill all that they had formerly held close._ ** ”

His blood ran cold.

What?

Laughter, high pitched in nature, echoed around him. Almost as if Tubbo were getting sucked into a void of self destruction.

Betrayal?

Yes, he  _ was  _ betrayed.

It finally hit him.

All the burning emotions he’d suppressed flooded his body and screeching injustices that made him clutch at his head.

Everyone? Everyone had betrayed him.

_ They’d betrayed him. _

It... it hurt him.

Tubbo couldn’t help but curl up gasping for air as the green blob faded in and out of his blurred vision.

“ **_Whoops! Didn’t mean for you to have a panic attack there! You used to be so full of love and cared for every single person in your world at some point! Talk about betrayal._ ** ”

Why? Why did it still  _ hurt  _ so much?! Why couldn’t he go back to those first days without any emotions.

It was better to be empty then so full of rage and sadness.

“ **_Sorry to break the news to you, but you ain’t gonna get that emotionless stuff back! Your just so f*cked up inside that you can’t help but still care! Don’t worry, that’s a good thing for you._ ** ”

Tubbo’s voice cracked out a sentence.

“W-why?! Why is a-all of this-?!”

**_“You were perfect. The perfect being. A kind human._ ** ”

The tone of the voice seemingly lost most humour as Tubbo could do nothing but wait for its next words.

“ **_Others did not think the same way you did. That’s the injustice of the world. All humans do it take and take until there’s nothing left. You were the result of that Tubbo._ ** ”

A solemn silence covered Tubbo. The only noise to escape being uncontrolled breaths that made the grey area so much worse.

So everyone had really betrayed him.

  
  
  


**Rage**

**Disgust**

**Hatred**

  
  
  


They enraptured his body like the coils of a snake. Sinking their venomous fangs into his skin.

_ How DARE they?! _

How dare they do this to him!

  
  
  


“ **_I’ll be sending you back with a gift. Enjoy your time on your server. The night I next see you will be before your final act begins. Don’t disappoint us. We’ve been watching your little show for a long while._ ** ”

Tubbo itched and scratched at the star shaped burn scar that wrapped across his face.

Green specks of neon brightness flew at him as the blob seemingly dissolved into the grey around him in a dazzling display of colour.

—————

Tubbo sat up in his bed as if awoken from a good night's sleep. A buzzing sound different than his shadows also hummed nicely in his ears.

Turning his head to the side Tubbo noticed a dark bee of whoms stripes seemed almost inverted flying close by his oak bookshelf, displaying Philza’s feather nicely upon its back.

Oh yes.

Poisonous lime eyes focused themselves in front of him as the bee began to rub at his side like a particularly loyal dog.

  
He was never going to be betrayed  _ again _ .


	16. Funny how you cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because of my inability to have posted a chapter yesterday I’ll be making a series of Smart/Scary Tubbo! I’ve got a one shot to be posted soon which I’ll add right away!

“Wilbur! Wilbur! Look at this!”

Tommy ran up to him with both urgency and excitement while the yellow clothed man packed away loose cobblestone back into a chest.

“It’s Phil! He’s f*cking here!”

Wilbur’s head snapped to Tommy immediately.

“He’s arrived to Pogtopia already?!”

Tommy nodded gleefully.

“Yeah! I saw him come down just past the intimidation tower!”

Finally!

Wilbur grinned as the two of them practically sprinted to the landing spot. This would be the pinnacle of their time doing this whole rebellion.

His greatest symphony needed people, and with all of his orchestra there would be only the most amazing of shows.

Deep beneath Manberg tnt lay waiting.

One Week.

—————

Quackity was slowly getting used to his formerly dead colleague writing reports as if everything were fine.

Except nothing was fine, and the scars bothered him.

Everyone had seen him that day when both him and Schlatt had made a kid plan out the best festival Quackity had ever attended, before revealing that it had been a public execution.

Every moment of every day he spent in that office he could feel the consequences of his actions looming over him.

Tubbo innocently sitting and filing paperwork was torture.

Every breath a stab wound into his chest.

Then whenever Schlatt walked into the room and made some kind of joke or paid more attention to Tubbo other than him it  _ burned _ .

Every single person in the whole f*cking server had  _ seen  _ him kill a child!

There might be no coming back from that.

There had been previous thoughts of Fundy turning traitor to his father, however those were now proven false since Tubbo’s return.

It all came back to Tubbo.

If Quackity wished that Tubbo had truly died? That was only for him to know. Maybe then he could have wiggled into Pogtopia of which seemed more likely to win the war.

_ Except now ever f*cking Pogtopia had no chance _ .

Yes, they had Technoblade. The warrior was the most terrifying thing that Quackity had ever met. A hunter in the skins of a pig.

But even so, Wilbur was batsh*t insane, Tommy, a child firmly under Wilbur’s control.

That was all.

Maybe if he were to send a plea to the Badlands?

No. That wouldn’t work. Not with how Fundy had seemed last night.

What had happened to have made the fox hybrid shiver so much and Schlatt make his evil planning face?

Well, it wasn’t like they’d talk to him about it anyway and they all had some time left.

One Week.

—————

Tubbo sat on his bed and watched in a dreamy state of awe as his new bee bumbled around his body in lazy loops.

Of course, he wasn’t all sunshine and happiness at the moment. It was a period of adjustment for him.

Something felt different to his shadows.

Almost a deadly glow hummed around them in a way Tubbo just couldn’t properly express.

The being had given him something.

It thrummed and hummed and buzzed over his senses as if a new kind of blood had been injected in through his skin.

The bee rubbed its fluffy coat against his leg.

Cute.

“I think I’ll name you Shadow. It seems kind of appropriate, right?”

The bee responded positively to Tubbo’s voice. Spinning two loops around his head.

Spinning. That was a memory.

Tommy had killed his pets before. Then Sapnap. Bees were getting harder and harder to find around the place.

The time spent in the Badlands with the five almost identical bees was a good memory.

However, everything else had been the worst, most nightmarish, memory in existence.

Acting was fun to do. However, pretending not to know the truths that people he trusted kept from him was both tiring and painful.

Tubbo wished he could scream at the world. Get it all.

Shadows covered his room as if reacting to his thoughts. The world around him went dark until only Tubbo was left. How could he continue doing this?

The weight of Shadow lent against his arm and Tubbo closed his weary and tearing eyes. A small smile gracing his lips.

One Week.

—————

Schlatt sat in his office thinking about all the events that had happened recently and what was going to happen soon.

This hadn’t been his original plan, but tyrannical dictators make do.

It would be styled after the festival. A big show! If Tubbo hadn’t been of any use to him in that time?

Go through with plan E.

If Tubbo was actually serving a use, of which Schlatt  _ highly _ doubted would happen, then they could just act as if nothing had happened.

The boy’s naivety was such a help.

One Week.

—————

BadBoyHalo dreamed about Skeppy.

The time they had spent together, what they had done together, and more importantly what they would do together when they reunited.

Skeppy was the sun to him.

A man filled with energy and heat who lit up the cave they had first met in beneath the Badlands.

AntFrost was their companion. A friend, but nothing like Skeppy.

Nobody could replace him.

This was the only way for them to have a chance of what the book had told them. Of course, that book was also being kept by Skeppy until it would be Bad’s turn to keep hold of it.

Of course. There was a time when they would have to take action. A time when they needed to schedule the ritual, and for it to be more perfect than the last two tries Bad would have to execute it under pressure.

For if Skeppy was the light, he must be the dark.

One Week.

—————

Dream didn’t envy the stars at night.

They were cursed to drift across the cosmos, looking down upon their server but unable to take any actions against the prominent pests around.

The Romans whispered about how gods were the same. Cursed to watch and only take action when one pest stood higher than the others and proved themselves.

This was it. He knew the others' plans.

Thankfully his plan could be accomplished within the amount of time. A week  _ was  _ a long amount of time to work with.

And Dream couldn’t wait for that long.

Rumours that Philza had returned overcame those of the atrocities going on in the Badlands.

Sapnap had come back to him with a bucket filled with both gravel and the bright bloodstained hairs of Niki.

The body had been completely intact and therefore too hard to carry over. She’d suffocated to death because of trusting the wrong person.

Tubbo was also reportedly over there and didn’t notice a thing.

He was just too stupid to be on Dream’s side for too long. Maybe if he replicated the event of his injury then a sign would appear on how he was healed.

Unless, it wasn’t just a heal, but a defence.

Yes. That made sense!

Some kind of teleportation and then a bit of residual healing power which faded off to leave the scars!

It made a lot more sense than regeneration.

If it still left scars, then it likely wouldn’t be useful.

_ Especially  _ if it meant that whenever a heal was in order he’d have to be sent to who knows where and then get knocked unconscious.

Dream silently cursed his immediate decision to have told Tubbo the secret of Gods.

Of course, it likely wouldn’t make much of a difference in the long run. There would only be a short amount of time before the kid would meet his end, and even then if the secret was told, it would be fine.

One Week. One week until the great powers would meet, and all hell would break loose.


	17. Funny how that even now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eavesdropping time, otherwise known as, ‘Schlatt really loves interrupting people when they are trying to talk' time.

“Oh Tubbo! Nice to see you doing your work so efficiently! I just want to check something first though. Why the  _ hell _ is there a bee in here huh? Are animals now allowed inside?”

Fundy who had been standing close to the hallway flinched at the words.

He had been standing in that hallway for god knows just  _ how _ long and had also seen the dark fuzzy bee of Tubbo’s.

It was nice that the kid had something that reminded him of the old times, but did it really have to be a living animal?

He did  _ not _ envy Tubbo for whatever Schlatt would do next.

“Oh, Schlatt! I-I’m so sorry I did see you there a-and I thought that since she w-was quiet then-”

“Tubbo, just because it’s quiet doesn’t mean that you can bring a  _ real. F*cking. Bee.  _ Into the White House!”

Fundy peaked around the doorway to see whether or not Schlatt was going to do something drastic.

The first thing he saw was the goat hybrid’s horns as the menacing figure glared a thunderous gaze down to the frightened Tubbo.

Quackity, to his surprise, was also in the room. The man had been fairly quieter since the festival, and then had gotten even more silent once Tubbo had been brought back.

It was certainly much better without all the noise, but the absence of light hearted jokes just made everyone even more on edge and fearful of Schlatt.

Quackity sat there at his desk and didn’t even make a single noise, watching the interaction of his boss and coworker.

“I-I-I’m sorry! S-she w-was just s-so  _ pretty _ and s-safe- I-I can take her o-outside and-!”

“Oh jeez.”

Schlatt rubbed at his forehead in frustration from the younger kid’s antics.

“Tubbo, just what am I meant to do here?!”

The boy in question stayed silent. A smart decision in Fundy opinion.

“So. Either I become the bad guy, and you  _ know  _ I’m not a bad guy, and force you to put your bee outside. Or I let you keep the bee inside and cremate a hazardous workspace for my cabinet! I know it won’t sting  _ you  _ but you didn’t even think about poor old Quackity over here. What if someone got hurt?”

Fundy’s lip pulled up from the blatant display of gaslighting which was being shown. Quackity himself also looked quite disgruntled from being randomly brought up in the conversation and seemed almost as if he wanted to launch himself out of the nearest window.

Tubbo bowed his head in shame. Tears pricking at his eyes.

“I-I’m really s-sorry sir. I-I know s-she wouldn’t sting him b-but I didn’t ask I-if he might be scared or-”

Schlatt waved his hand dismissively to cut the boy off.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Save all that gooey sh*t for someone who cares. Now get your stinkin bee out of here.”

Tubbo immediately stood up and began to walk towards _ the very corridor Fundy was in _ .

The fox hybrid panicked before quickly wedging himself in between the arches of a gap that was hidden from sight.

Tubbo ran straight past him, holding the bee carefully in his arms as if it were a newborn child. Breathing out a sigh of relief Fundy then prepared himself to get out of the corner before-

“Hey Quackity. I've noticed you acting off lately, and never got the chance to talk about it. Why don’t we address this,  _ now _ ?”

The man in question froze to his seat.

Fundy himself cursed the fact that any movements he made now would show Schlatt his eavesdropper, and would certainly result in a harsh punishment. He settled for hiding.

“I don’t know just what you mean, Schlatt! I’ve never really been better-”

“No no no. Cut the  _ crap _ Quackity. I’ve seen how you’ve been acting around good ol’ Tubster and me. Almost like you're  _ scared _ of something, huh?”

Fundy listened in with interest as Quackity flinched.

“I’m really not scared, Schlatt! It’s just a bit… weird.”

“Well what’s the weird parts! If you keep on acting like this then people will think that we’ve got a bit of a problem over here.”

His smile got a little more dangerous.

“We  _ don’t  _ have a problem here. Do we?

Fundy’s fur stood up on edge from the tones. Memorials of how the goat hybrid would do anything to maintain order sprung to his mind, the festival being a main example.

Yes. That man was scary.

“No, we don’t don’t have a problem here! I’m all okay and ready to finish these papers! Ooo, tax fraud.”

“Good man Quackity! If we really  _ did _ have a serious problem I might’ve had to deal with it.”

The horned man made his way to the door entering out Fundy’s way so he quickly scampered to a spot that was as hidden as possible.

Schlatt walked out the door and then easily made eye contact with the fox hybrid. Oh gods no. He’d been caught!

“I think we all know that I’m  _ good _ at dealing with problems.”

The goat hybrid smirked at Fundy, of whom was still to shell shocked to make a move, and then walked away. His fluffy white tail swinging after him.

Fundy let out a huge sigh.

What was that?!

Schlatt had literally seen him there, eavesdropping on their conversation, and still let him go!

Was it also a message to him? Some kind of ‘don’t test me because I can kill you’ kind of thing?!

It definitely was frightening though.

Fundy pulled himself out of the shadows and brushed himself off. Just before Tubbo, who was now bee less, came running up to the office.

“Oh, Fundy! S-sorry I didn’t see you there!”

Wide eyes innocently looked at him.

“I just got here.”

He shuffled around uncomfortably on his feet, not wanting the conversation to continue.

Quackity was definitely right about something being strange around there. Obliviously Tubbo spoke

“Were you here to organise protection for the meeting?”

Oh yeah. He still had  _ that  _ to do.

“Uh, yeah Tubbo. It’s all done so I’m going to leave now.”

Fundy quickly left the building. Noticing on his way out that the bee from earlier was watching him unnaturally.

God, it gave him the creeps.

When he’d get home Fundy would then continue to plan out the seating arrangements for the great meeting in a weeks time.

Eret, BadBoyHalo, and Schlatt, would all be meeting in unclaimed land to discuss the arrangements they would need to make for trade amongst the three fairly new nations.

Hopefully, everything would go fine.


	18. You still can’t meet my eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so bad at writing from Tommy's perspective and now that the lads are going to be more around I don’t know what I’ll do.
> 
> Also there is no update tomorrow because I haven’t written anything out and am going to go shopping for Christmas stuff.

Tubbo honestly really liked Shadow.

She was a pretty bee, even thought she was much more black then yellow and looked very different from the other bees, he thought it fit.

One of the major reasons for her name was how at first he thought he’d been given a bee shaped shadow. Some kind of bad reminder from the  **s o m e t h i n g** that he could never go back to how things used to be.

It had been a surprise to have found that no, she was a real living being. One that was obviously accustomed to his powers and still could follow him around.

It was very nice to have someone else to talk to that wouldn’t betray him.

Unfortunately, however, other people seemed to dislike her quite a bit.

When he’d first gone into the office with her Quackity had been repelled.

That would have made sense if it were just him though! He’d been sceptical of Tubbo since he’d first risen from the dead.

Then, Schlatt had come along and yelled about it.

That also would have made sense! Schlatt liked making him uncomfortable and constantly wanted to flex his power!

Oh but it  _ didn’t  _ end there.

Fundy, of whom had been hiding behind a barely visible column, made a disgusted face once he’d seen the bee.

When doing his office work he’d seen GeorgeNotFound himself who barely ever came by the office swat at her.

Then on his walk back home people avoided him even more so than normal.

This afternoon would also be the one when he’d meet up with Tommy and Wilbur.

Tubbo hadn’t seen Wilbur since being reborn. However, he did know that the former president had been slowly losing his sanity ever since being exiled.

He wondered whether or not Technoblade would appear. Or if the dates aligned and Philza himself came to talk.

Hopefully Shadow wouldn’t be hurt at their meeting by anyone. She was becoming the only thing he could still care for.

Why had she been given to him?

Whenever the  **s o m e t h i n g** would speak to him it was almost as if the being was caring for him. It felt as if a mighty dragon were to spoil a rat that had found its way into its cave.

There were too many questions that ran through his head.

Well, he still might as well be prepared for that afternoon. Something told him that everything wouldn’t be going as smoothly as he could hope.

—————

TommyInnit gulped before getting his pack on.

He was a brave man! It wasn’t as if he were scared or anything! Even if Schlatt or some other sh*thole were to find him then he could fight them off!

Something about Tubbo had definitely changed, though.

When Tommy had first met with him after the festival, f*ck he didn’t want to think of  _ that  _ mess, Tubbo seemed… off, somehow.

It might have been from having experienced coming back from near death and the brain injury that caused him to have forgotten the prior events, but it still should have been his Tubbo. Right?

Tubbo hadn’t had that constant stutter. He occasionally used to stutter when overwhelmed or fearful of something, but never to  _ this  _ extent.

“Hey Tommy, you brought the strength potions right?”

Oh, he did alright. The two potions weighed heavily against his side as a constant reminder that at any moment, Tubbo might betray them.

“Yeah Wilbur. Don’t think we’ll need em for b*tch boy though!”

His brother gave him a calculating gaze back in response.

“They’d be for if he told someone Tommy or if he was followed.”

Oh yeah. Right.

Tommy missed the old days of L’Manberg. Days when he could yell about the latest crime they’d done with Tubbo and Wilbur would laugh with them.

He didn’t like this Wilbur as much now, but it still was Wilbur.

Wilbur was his brother! Family sticks together like glue! Wherever Wilbur went, he was a package deal!

He  _ needed  _ Tommy.

Tubbo also needed Tommy too, just not as much as Wilbur.

He’d heard his older brother speak of blowing up their country in stride, as if it were a definite truth of what had to be done. They would get through this though! If Wilbur went too far gone, Tommy would always be there to fix him back up like the big man he was!

Bushes rustled and he unconsciously pulled out his sword in case of an attack.

“H-Hi! Sorry, Shadow got a bit d-dizzy and whacked into a tree ranch so I-I had to help her out!”

Tubbo emerged from the bush with leaves strewn all over his figure.

Who the f*ck was Shadow?

Tubbo froze seeing both him and Wilbur with an almost confused look over his face when he saw them.

Tommy realised that technically for him, he hadn’t seen the older in quite some time.

A smile broke over the shorters face and Tubbo ran over to hug his good friend, before then moving over to give Tommy a hug who easily pushed him away.

“What the f*ck is wrong with you man?! Save your mushy sh*t for Wilbur!”

It was almost nauseating to see the sight before him.

Technically, they hadn’t done anything to stop his execution which had resulted in horrific scarring and memory loss. In fact, if they hadn't brought Technoblade to the festival they mightn’t have even had the execution at all!

Wilbur still hadn’t let a single expression of doubt appear over his face. The acting skills he had fostered for years being so very useful in the current situation.

Of course, Tommy also looked super calm and collected.

A buzzing noise suddenly assaulted his hearing and Tommy’s hand kept to his sword so that he could keep his family safe.

A large and fluffy dark bee landed on Tubbo’s shoulder, who then proceeded to stroke and grin larger from the thing.

“This is Shadow! She’s r-really nice!”

Wilbur just smiled at the innocently said words while Tommy couldn’t help but flinch.

There was no way that  _ thing _ was just a bee.

Something about it… it wasn’t worldly.

Tommy hated this feeling. Feeling as if there were nothing he could do to fight against the monster controlling his friend.

Wait, controlling?

His eyes widened as Wilbur and Tubbo began to exchange small talk about how each other was.

_ Control _ ! It made so much sense!

Tommy’s mind worked a hundred miles and hour in thought.

What if everything had been staged?

No, this wasn’t any of Wilbur’s unreasonable paranoia rubbing against him. Tubbo had seriously been acting off lately, and now a freaky looking creature had attached itself to the boy and was making him act strangely!

Was it some kind of end creature? A monster disgusted to possess his friend?!

“So Tommy! Tubbo was just telling me some recent changes that Manberg’s been going through. Would you like to tell him about one of our own?”

Tommy was startled to attention by the words.

Of course! Philza and Wilbur would be able to fix it right away!


	19. Do you hear the voices?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The asterisk in f*cking or f*ck whenever Tommy says it is an o because of his blatantly British accent. Shadow is the true main character y'all can go home.

So. Philza really did come to Pogtopia.

“He f*cking swooped down like a hawk or some sh*t Tubbo! I thought for sure his wing would get stuck up in the trees and we’d have to pull him down like when we were nine. Nine!”

Currently, Tommy was telling him all about how Philza had dropped in from the sky and proclaimed that, apparently, he’d managed to get back from some kind of empire and wanted to help them.

Wilbur strolled by them easily, but Tubbo knew the man well enough to tell that he was angry.

Perhaps even angry enough to blow up the latent tnt below Manberg.

That would be a huge, possibly dangerous too, mistake.

If Wilbur were to blow up Manberg then it was  _ sure _ that multiple people would lose their lives. Not that it would be a bad thing, but Tubbo wanted to get his own revenge too.

Betrayed by every single person he cared about. What had Philza done?

He needed to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.

“Hey Tubbo. I heard you went over to the ‘Badlands’ or whatever.”

Wilbur had stopped walking causing both him and Tommy to have to turn back around.

“I-I didn’t see her since she w-was sick. Bad s-said she’d be fine though!”

Tubbo nervously twiddled his fingers and looked back up to his former leader anxiously. Wilbur had donned a twisted smile that held paranoia and insanity within it. Something that fit just too comfortably onto his face.

Tommy looked almost off put from this response, but didn’t utter a word. Almost as if he were used to such maniacal expressions.

“I still can’t f*cking believe Niki went over to help Bad!”

He obviously was trying to steer the conversation over to a different topic. He privately didn't think that it would in any shape or form work.

“Yeah. It just goes to show how the world is against us, Tommy!”

Wilbur's smile widened and the man made eye contact with Tubbo.

“So many traitors. We can’t trust anyone anymore.”

He made an effort to not roll his eyes. Seriously? He’s finally back from a death defying stunt and all  _ Wilbur _ can do is say about how ‘traitorous’ he is?

Well, he was right.

“I-I can’t wait to see Philza! It’s just been s-so long…”

Tubbo widened his eyes and pleadingly looked to Tommy.

“Do you t-think he still  _ remembers  _ me?!”

His friend made a confused face in response to the question. Seeming a bit disturbed from the strange and strangled meaning behind it.

“Why wouldn’t he?! He’s our f*cking Dad Tubbo! How the f*ck could he have forgotten about you?”

He leaned his head down to face the forest floor as if saddened.

“Well… I-I’m still not his real s-son.”

It was true.

Philza had found him inside of a box on their front lawn and adopted him into the family.

Despite being of age to remember what must have happened, Tubbo didn’t have a single memory of his time before getting taken in. He was probably even seven or eight at the time.

**_Lani_ **

That  _ name _ .

Who was it?

“Come on Tubbo your just being f*cking stupid. Of course Phil would remember you!”

Tommy thought he was joking. His tone indicated the emotions of annoyance as well as laughter.

But the way he kept  _ staring _ at Shadow felt wrong. Completely wrong.

Yes. People definitely did seem to react negatively to her.

—————

Pogtopia was exactly as Tubbo remembered it. Both stifling and humid.

The stone walls of which surrounded him from every side were claustrophobic and damning if there were to be an earthquake, but it still was their home.

More like jail.

The exile had been hard for everyone. Wilbur more so than most judging by his deteriorating mind and current physical state.

Even Tommy looked exhausted.

“What’s your memories like Tubbo?”

Wilbur looked to him with an unsettling gaze. Obviously fishing to see whether or not Tubbo was lying or if their own lie would be discovered.

“My last memory w-was about three days f-from the festival? At least I-I think so.”

Tommy was looking through a chest, but was still listening from his body language.

“Oh! So you remember Technoblade still. Right?”

_ “Don’t worry. I’ll make it as colourful and painless as possible.” _

Tubbo unconsciously shivered before looking back over to the chest to see that Tommy had flinched. He wasn’t meant to remember anything, so this acting had to be  _ perfect _ .

“Yeah! H-he’s going to be helping us!”

A smile arose on Wilbur’s face, and the man began to walk threateningly towards him.

“Why’d you shake when I said his name Tubbo? Does Techno  _ scare _ you at all?”

He made direct eye contact with the elder man who thought that he had the high ground. As if  _ everything _ they had done before didn't even matter and he was a pawn to be used.

“I-I just suddenly felt like I should have been s-scared.”

Wilbur Soot was an insane maniac who relied on young children to fight under him.

The insanity was just showing a bit more now.

He straightened his coat and Tubbo realised that the suit Schlatt had given him was still on. Surprisingly Tommy hadn’t said a word about it.

A thumping came from behind him as if a heavy creature was hunting. It was the sound of death and destruction.

Blood.

Tubbo spun around to see a full netherite wearing person lugging around a large sack. A giant red cape donned across his already daunting figure.

Technoblade made eye contact with him.

“Ay, Tubbo. How are you doing?”


	20. It’s you who I despise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS MEANT TO BE A THREE CHAPTER SHORT STORY HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
> 
> Chapter titles are becoming even more relevant now too if you look at the full list all together.
> 
> Whoops this is an edit no chapter tomorrow because my friend is over sorry fellas.

_ An eight year old Tubbo jumped as the front door slammed shut. _

_ “Phil!” _

_ He’d never managed to make himself call the man dad. Running out of the hallway and then into the living room Tubbo startled at seeing another man with his adopted father. _

_ He was a menacing figure. A red cape that reminded his young eyes of blood and gore draped over the obvious pig hybrid whose stark pink skin shone like a body flayed alive. _

_ Tubbo flinched back in fear and began shaking. _

_ Philza, who had placed his green and white trench bucket hat on a coat hanger, smile at the boys reaction and merely rubbed his head in embarrassment. _

_ “Sorry Tubbo! Guess I forgot to mention. This is Techno! Your oldest brother!” _

_ Oldest brother. Wasn’t that Wilbur? Wilbur was the one who always looked after them with his nice lady friend sometimes coming over to help! _

_ Tommy was the one they mostly had too look after. That was because Tubbo could be as quiet as a mouse and didn’t break things or get angry. _

_ He nervously shuffled towards his now older brother and began to introduce himself. _

_ “Hi. Um, I’m Tubbo! I-It’s really nice to meet you…” _

_ His shoulders quaked in fear as ‘Techno’ as he was called just stared at him silently. _

_ “I wouldn't suppose that you’d happen to be an orphan, eh?” _

_ Philza was pushed into laughter from the pig hybrid’s words. As if it were some kind of funny joke that was hilarious to listen to. _

_ Tubbo didn’t find it funny at all, but he still let out some short nervous laughter to still be a part of things. _

_ “TECHNOBLADE!” _

_ Tommy sped into the lounge area and jumped on the larger man into a tackle sort of hug. Technoblade then lifting the boy easily off of his cape with one hand setting him back onto the ground. _

_ “Ey ya swurt! I see you got shorter, little man.” _

_ Tommy cried out indigenously and swung towards his older brother. _

_ Tubbo felt like an outlier. A stranger in their house despite having lived there for a year already. _

_ Footsteps alerted him to the presence of Wilbur who had come out with both his guitar and a very ruffled look from sleeping for too long. He and Technoblade did nothing but meet each other's gaze in a way that made Tubbo’s young body very distrustful. _

_ They all spoke for a whole after that. Tommy asking Technoblade about his latest adventure, while Philza admonished Wilbur for sleeping instead of looking after the boys who must have been playing alone. _

_ Tubbo wanted to join in. He really did! _

_ But the fact that he hadn’t ever met the pig hybrid and that Philza hadn’t appeared in two weeks made conversation strained. _

_ Yes. He would be fine just watching them all have fun! _

_ The very next day, both Technoblade and Philza left without even a note to say goodbye. _

—————

“You good there, Tubbo?”

No. He  _ wasn’t  _ good.

Hot flashes of fireworks burned his skin in a colourful display of violence. The cool yellow concrete surrounding him from every angle trapped his escape from the hell hole that tried to pull him down to the depths of death.

Technoblade stood in front of them in all of his glory. The sack of which had dropped to the floor letting out a loud and terrifying thump from its weight.

_ Save yourself idiot! _

“S-sorry. I-I-I just felt s-some dread for s-some reason.”

Everyone was looking at him  _ why were they watching him?! _

Could they not see the monster in front of them? Was there some kind of joke going on to bring such awful feelings up?

Wait, no! He had to remain calm! He was strong now  _ Tubbo was strong now _ he could do this yes he would be able to do this there was nothing wrong and no reason was there to act like this so he couldn’t do this and be-

“You look upset. Want a potato? I just got them out from the farm. Philza’s also in there right now.”

Technoblade reached into his bag and pulled out a somehow cooked potato. Stunning Tubbo out from his inner stress.

Tommy whispered something to Wilbur who nodded back before clasping his hands together.

“Well! I think you might have been spending too much time with Schlatt. I heard all about whether lies he told you about your whole execution thing. Techno is on our side!”

Wilbur was smiling at him.

Tubbo had to do this right. His life depended on it.

Technoblade still hadn’t made any expressions to signify whatever he was feeling at that moment.

Guilt from murdering him?

Likely not.

Disgust?

Perhaps.

It was likely to have just been a simple uncaring feeling about how Tubbo was. The pig hybrid wasn’t one for such sappy emotions.

“Ey Tubbo, once you're feeling good I’ll take you over to Phil. Don’t think he knows you're here yet.”

Tubbo could only nod before being taken away from both Wilbur and Tommy. Shadow quickly bumbling behind him to follow.

—————

“Sapnap! Did you bring over the strength potions yet?!”

Dream yelled to him from behind a wall.

To be honest, Sapnap was getting more and more confused about things that were going on.

Previous memories of building with other people before the wars had changed into mere blurred figures in his mind. Meanwhile the flames and destruction he forced were prominent.

Animals used to love him so much. Now they avoided his touch, and him them. In fact, just the sight of one tempted him to do… abnormal things.

How pleasing it would be to poke out the eyes of that dog? What kind of sound would they make?

If Sapnap stuck a sharp point into an eye would it pop or just deflate?

So one day, he tried it.

And it felt  _ fun _ . The cries of pain from the wolf had sounded amazing. The different ways it withered in his grasp to try and flee from an unseen threat made adrenaline pump through his veins!

Then, the war began.

He’d gotten addicted to drugs from the new state Wilbur was trying to run. A van that they had in a small and walled off area of woodlands.

Dream hated it.

So they went to war!

They gained both Punz and then Eret on their side while ‘L’Manberg’ was left to fall.

Tommy had the bright idea of challenging Dream to a duel. An obvious outcome of the kid being beaten to near death before all that was asked for in return were his two prize possessions.

Oh,  _ the look on his face _ !

Suddenly, Sapnap in the wrong for killing a couple of animals. It wasn’t like they couldn’t replace them or anything! Also, that f*cking bee of Tubbo’s poisoned him and was dangerous!

Did he get that bee for the boy before the wars? Eh. He didn’t care anymore.

Now, there were elections and other boring things. It would have been even more fun to have brunt everything down but  _ oh no _ . George had to go run for vice president and  _ Dream _ now wanted the election to go on!

He should have trusted his friend would make the right decision from the start.

Now they had even more people to fight against! Including Wilbur Soot and his merry band of little savages!

With the potions in his hands Sapnap went to where his friend was.

F*ck, this was going to be fun.


	21. Think that it of course is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The entire album of Hawaii II fits the Dream SMP and every single song is a complete banger I swear. I listen to the whole album whenever I write multiple times.
> 
> Also, I wrote this at 2:00 till 4:30 when I had to go to different family gatherings each day so it tired time (:

Philza stood there, in an underground potato farm, wearing modest clothes fit for an adventurer.

Everything had been seeded, there was nothing left to do. It was calming to watch the seedlings begin to sink under the soil and start their enhanced growth regimen.

In some places, plants took years to fully grow up to their potential.

That just added to how he travelled from place to place. Never fully rooting himself down.

Before his eyes had set upon a new safe haven. A place to live. A place that was called-

“Ey, Phil. Look who’s here.”

A genuine smile made its ways across his face as he turned to his oldest son only to be surprised to see another person next to Technoblade.

Oh. That was Tubbo!

“Tubbo! You’ve grown so much!”

Techno grinned, meanwhile the younger next to him seemed almost as if he was in a state of shock.

It had probably been  _ years _ since the last time they’d seen each other!

Philza strode over and got on his knees to deliver a hug of which others would often talk praise about. A warm hug from a warm hearted being which would then make him blush from embarrassment.

Tubbo violently flinched back from the kind gesture, however. And Philza couldn't do anything other than give a pitying look as if he knew what must have happened.

And oh did Tubbo look awful.

Scars marred about half of his body in a grotesque portrait of violence. The star speckled patterns with bits of almost translucent blemished skin sticking to every available surface on one side of his body.

Was it possible for such a wound to heal? Poor him.

“H-h-hello Phil.”

His face involuntarily cringed at the stutter. What had happened during the time he’d been away?

Philza sent a questioning gaze up to Techno of whom only shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.

Classic him. The things they’d all gone through defined how they would act and feel. So the scared looks Tubbo kept sending the pig hybrid were probably a side effect from some kind of terrible injury.

Though it wasn’t like it was his fault so the youngest should figure out how to grow from his experiences without putting others down.

A glint of anger in Tubbo’s eyes was not left unnoticed by Philza.

He stood up. Brushing off any stray dirt from his pants legs and then stretching on his feet. Then prepared himself to talk but in a softer tone than before.

“It’s nice to see you again Tubbo.”

Philza angled his kind eyes downwards and his pity became stronger.

Tubbo didn’t look back at him and instead nodded briefly. Techno sighed and grabbed a hoe out from his belt, making the younger edge away from his side.

Something was different about the boy though.

Philza often would muse to himself in random monologues about a new occurrence in his daily life, forgetting that these happened all the time in the simplest of ways.

One of the ways he’d often think about was his many, many, family members. And Tubbo was just one that needed a bit of special care.

—————

Technoblade and Philza stood next to Tubbo. Making them the strangest group you’d have ever seen.

He still wanted to leave.

His own very literal  _ murderer _ was happily chatting away with his own adopted father that hadn’t been seen for probably about three or four years.

F*ck, it hurt.

The shock was begining to wear off. A hatred towards the both of them protruding from a small shadow in the corner of which Technoblade would sometimes send glances towards.

Well, he could probably sense the bloodlust using whatever spooky ‘blessed one’ powers he had.

Phil also felt different than what he could remember.

The feeling of wanting to rip him apart from limb to limb was an intoxicating thought and made Tubbo have to focus on keeping his sanity.

Shadow’s pleasant buzzing filled his head when she landed onto his shoulder comfortably.

Philza gave him a disapproving stare which quickly took away all relief from the pleasant contact.

“What is that?”

He spoke in a confused tone. It wasn’t until the man pointed to his pet that Tubbo realised he was talking about Shadow herself.

“I-It’s -uh- a b-bee?”

Philza nodded as if he’d just attained new information. What? He definitely knew what a bee was. Tubbo knew because he’d forced the man whenever he could to talk about whatever adventure he last went on and had mentioned bees multiple times.

Those were the stories he actively listened to, when Tommy complained absolutely how boring they got.

Was it just because of Shadow’s colour scheme? Looking more like some kind of wasp then any other proper insect.

She was his, though. A spot of kindness in this world.

“Are you sure that it’s just a bee?”

Tubbo’s blood ran cold.

Why had Philza… asked that?

He schooled his expression into confusion because even the simplest of ticks might reveal him.

If they didn’t already know the truth.

Technoblade’s daunting height and armor pulled memories up to the front of his mind that he’d rather not be there.

Did the two of them somehow figure out there was something wrong with him? That Tubbo  _ knew  _ things?!

Technoblade let out a small chuckle. Eyes locked onto Philza.

“Apparently Dream told him something about blessed folk. Don’t think he believes it all though.”

_ What?! _

Fear covered Tubbo’s face and posture. Technoblade had just  _ f*cking said _ to  _ Philza  _ about  _ blessings. _

Dream had never said about Philza being blessed before.

“W-what?!”

He was just so  _ confused _ .

It made sense only because of the way he felt around him. As if Philza were something to destroy. Was he some kind of blessed being?!

The man in question laughed at his own shocked look.

Tubbo was not laughing.

“Don’t worry Tubbo! I know about blessings and all that sort of thing. I used to be a researcher and have met quite a few blessed in my time.”

The world was ending. Philza was actually f*cking mental.

No way was he ‘just a researcher’. If he were also, then  _ why wouldn’t he have told his children _ ?!

He made sense. The adopted child nobody had ever needed.

But Tommy, and Wilbur!

Unless…

Things must be a lot more complicated then he’d thought and suddenly some strange occurrences made sense.

Why must his life be oh so awful?

The glint of a netherite axe appearing under Tubbo’s adam’s apple brought him back to real life.

Technoblade leant in closer and muttered something under his breath.

“Why don’t you explain to Philza  _ exactly _ what he said?”

Forget this. His life was pure  _ horror _ .


	22. Another of your lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow the bee deserves love and respect and I will NOT rest until she gets the praise she deserves.
> 
> No update tomorrow because I am tired with Christmas stuff

“Wait, stop Techno! What are you doing to poor Tubbo?!”

The axe rested under his chin as a threat. Sweat dripped down Tubbo’s own face with the knowledge that if he were to swing there was no chance of a third chance.

“Argk!”

The axe pushed in closer to his throat.

This  _ couldn’t  _ be the end! Not like this!

The shadows began to gather for an assault that didn’t have enough fear from others to stand much of a chance against the warrior.

They still had to try.

Shadow the bee flew right at his aggressor. Ready to fight for her owner and before any of the powers could attack-

“Fine.”

Technoblade lowered the axe leaving Tubbo to gasp for air. He could finally  _ breathe _ .

Small and fake tears dripped down his cheeks as if the shadows weren’t about to lop off the head of the strongest warrior in the land. If they could of course.

Like a man desperate for water Tubbo grabbed ahold of Shadow in all of her happy, buzzing, glory.

“Techno! You could have been a lot nicer to him!”

He had to  _ keep acting _ .

“W-w-why?!”

Tear trickled down his face in a show of fear and confusion. Technoblade the sighed as Philza then gave him a disappointing stare before explaining.

“Dream said he thought you were blessed. I don’t see it though.”

“I-I don’t even  _ know _ what t-this whole blessed thing  _ is _ !”

The tears kept falling in a display of vulnerability.

_ “Don’t worry. I’ll make it as colourful and as painless as I can.” _

Tubbo collapsed down to his knees as a full effect. Shadow, still being hugged close to his heaving body.

Maybe it wasn’t all acting, but the anger he held was expertly hidden to the degree of making his actions all the more effective.

“Oh don’t worry, Tubbo.”

Philza sat down next to him and set a hand onto his back. It burned like the sun itself, or the sparks of a firework.

Resisting the urge to flinch away Tubbo began to set up his next lie.

“I don’t e-even believe Dream! H-he’s lied t-to us  _ so many t-times _ and T-Tommy wouldn’t l-let me be-”

He allowed a choked sob to emerge and stop his sentence midway.

Well. What will your move here be, Technoblade?

“Eh. They kind of did watch me hurt you. Don’t think they really needed you in the first place.”

The truth? Was he mentally challenged?! Why the f*ck would he say that to his literal victim?!

From the look on Philza’s face however, he could deduce that the man probably had no knowledge of the festival’s events.

“What do you mean Techno?”

The fact that he seemed only a small bit concerned bother Tubbo to no end. This man was technically his adopted father. 

_ To have been betrayed by everyone you cared about _ .

“Sorry Tubbo, I didn’t know he’d hurt you! Do you wanna talk about it?”

He looked down while portraying a shocked and hurt expression.

“I… I d-don’t  _ remember _ .”

Tubbo then began to fake being out of breath. A sort of anxiety panic attack mix from the threats around him.

After all, the amount of times they happened before his change allowed him to replicate one perfectly.

—————

A fact that was undeniably true was that Wilbur was sane.

Or maybe not judging by how other looked at him whenever all he would do was propose an idea that was  _ sure _ to work!

Things had been much more fun in his younger days.

Making accomplices and then doing whatever the hell he wanted to with them was just another game.

It was then that he decided to create a new nation and things were glorious! L’Manberg was the best decision to have gone forth in.

Now things were just  _ so  _ f*cking screwed up it was insane.

He was exiled. Exiled! From his very own nation! First, Dream had tried taking it over but they’d never succeeded due to his wonderful negotiation skills, and now this!

F*cking exiled from his own country by the sh*ttyest con man hybrid who’d turned so many people against him.

Eret was the first to go in the days before the presidential election.

Fundy was the next. His very own f*cking  _ son _ who burnt down his flag for Schlatt!

Then even the dunce  _ Tubbo, _ who’d somehow managed to weasel his way into the position of Secretary of State, was some kind of triple or even quadruple agent!

Nobody had turned out to be loyal except his annoying brother who he’d spent way too much time with to really care about fully.

He looked up to him! Yes he, Wilbur Soot, was a role model!

What Tommy still hadn’t realised however was that nobody cared about him. How the fact he used to be able to order around his little minion friend to do most anything made him strong.

Philza and Technoblade were also some of the least trustworthy of the lot.

Now, they and Tubbo were  _ inside  _ of Pogtopia! As if the  _ traitors  _ wouldn’t sell them out in a heartbeat!

It would be easiest to somehow get rid of them all.

Blow em up!

Alas, for he could not do it with just his own strength.

“So. What’d you pull me away for?”

Oh that’s right. This was a conversation.

Wilbur chuckled merrily and combed his greasy hair back with his fingers.

“I just thought that you were looking a little bit tense over there, Tommy! Anything you wanted to talk about?”

It was completely true as well.

Tommy looked much more uncomfortable around Tubbo then he would have ever thought possible before the whole exile.

Perhaps he was finally seeing some sense?

His younger brother gazed down to the floor seeming as if he were unsure of something. What a rare expression for him to make!

“It just… it doesn’t feel right Wilbur!”

Oh?

“Tubbo’s been acting all weird since that f*cking festival thing, and now he’s got that  _ thing  _ following him around everywhere!”

Wilbur listened with complete attention on the younger. By thing, it should be assumed to be that weird bee friend of his right?

Never mind all of that. This was great! Finally he would get someone completely loyal on his side!

Wilbur leant in close, outing his arms around Tommy’s shoulder.

“You know there is a  _ very _ easy way to fix that, Tommy.”

The boy's green eyes looked back at him in frustration.

“What?”

A smile crept onto Wilbur’s face.

“Just kill that bee!”


	23. Leave us alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DadSchlatt is the only thing tethering me to the mortal planes right now. It fuels my spirit.

Sent home with nought but a smile and hollow words of comfort was Tubbo’s current situation.

Wilbur hadn’t even asked him for information or anything and just let him leave as soon as he’d gotten out of that awful potato room that didn’t even have auto farming.

The worst part was seeing both Philza and Technoblade together.

The two of them had such a strong bond from all of their seemingly constant adventures.

One of the reasons that he called his adopted father Phil was that they’d only properly been around each other twelve times. The former last being about three whole years ago.

Philza was simply never there. Wilbur practically raised both him and Tommy as well as his own son.

Was that the only reason why Wilbur cared for them? Because they were useful children who knew only him as their role models without any other people to care for them.

Shadow buzzed pleasantly against his neck. She had snuggled right in to get away from the rapidly moving seasons temperature, and used his warm skin as her own personal heater.

At least he was of  _ some  _ use.

A small smile glinted at the end of his furrowed face. Tubbo then reached down to slowly stroke her across the head, leading Shadow to fall into a rhythmic breathing cycle that he could assume was sleep.

He settled down onto his bed and snuggled in the blankets. Putting extra care so as to not disturb his sleeping pet.

Tubbo was just so  _ tired _ .

Everything felt as if it were moving too quickly. A fast flowing river that needed to be stopped using only his bare hands and was full with hate and anger.

Technoblade hadn’t cared in the slightest after seeing what he’d done to a child.

Regret mustn’t have been an emotion that the pig hybrid could feel.

However. When his hooved hand had clutched his shoulder with a damaging strength it had taken all of Tubbo’s self control not to truthfully flinch and fight his way out of there.

Why must everything be so complicated?!

So he lay down in his bed, bee by his side, and closed his eyes.

The dream that he got launched into was nothing but whites, blues, and reds. Yellow blockades keeping him from running.

Eventually the colours faded out and he was left in a stone room. The only furnishings being the infinite seeming amount of burnt skulls adorning the walls.

Suddenly, his surroundings changed once again.

A giant library that seemingly hummed with power from each and every book.

Another change.

A cave with vines and ivy green coatings on its walls being lit up by an insanely large chandelier.

The chandelier was a menacing and evil thing.

Next.

A small village that was wretched and vile spew black smoke into the air. Two young children could be heard laughing in the distance, while the flames burnt both skin and bones.

Another.

A white room that had many lists floating in the air. What the lists said didn’t matter, but the sheer amount of boredom radiating from a shadowed figure worked well enough to describe their positions.

Again.

This time, the place felt mildly familiar to him.

A wet and muddy box with three written words sat on an empty field.

Oh. So that was…

Tubbo realised that he could move and began walking over to investigate whether or not his suspicions had been correct.

Slowly, he crept closer and closer up to the box. Filled with both curiosity and a sense of strong fear.

Of what the fear was of however, wasn’t very apparent to him at all.

Hesitantly he reached it and then stuck his head over to face what he might see.

Two very young children lay together, asleep. The words on the box saying

_ Lani & Tubbo _ .

—————

BadBoyHalo was stuck within a conundrum that he didn’t have the proper resources to get out of.

Ever since he’d created this new little nation under him (and Skeppy) they had an issue.

The issue being that unlike all the other nations, there were no spies working for him.

That’s where Tubbo came in, though! A repurposed spy who wouldn’t even notice that he was giving away small bits of information.

Once Skeppy woke up again, it would be only the two of them.

Bad felt, well,  _ bad _ about doing this to other people.

Other people didn’t know anything about their goals! Their view of the world! Yet, they would still have to be used, he hated the word used, so that this happy ending would be achieved.

Bad stood in his little underground cave and brought out the book that had started it all. Trailing a light and loving touch over the chandelier as he walked over to a worn book stand.

Where was Ant?

The thought suddenly hit him, pulling him back away from the stand.

Had he seen AntFrost at all that day?!

Oh wait. He had seen him in the early hours of the morning tending to something in his zoo.

Did he mention anything about going anywhere?

No.

Bad felt more frantic as he closed the secret passage way behind him and sprinted through the main house and onto the fields-

If Ant had been captured by someone then they could interrogate him on the plan!

Not that AntFrost knew the truth, but he still knew a lot more than others. Especially knowing about Niki’s unfortunate fate.

_ “LET ME OUT PLEASE I CAN’T- _ ”

No! He had to focus on Ant!

Sweat dripped down his forehead as he had finally made his way to the zoo-

Only to find AntFrost crying. While holding a mutilated body of one of their prized cows.

That wasn’t the only one.

Bad looked in horror only to find that every single animal in the zoo had been mercilessly slaughtered. Brutal wounds covering their bodies and showing 5th at there was only one person who could have done all of it.

Ant’s tearful face peered up to him as snot dripped down his nose.

“B-Bad I couldn’t-”

He stopped in his tracks, wheezing from the sadness and horror.

Bad knew this place had meant everything to him.

His friend continued in a quiet voice.

“I-I-I couldn’t  _ stop _ S-S-Sap-”

He broke down into even bigger tears, leaving Bad to hug him tightly.

When would all of this injustice end? When would people learn how to mind their own business and  _ leave them alone _ .

BadBoyHalo had never fully understood the meaning of irony.


	24. We want to go home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So incase you didn’t realise it before, Drista did have a part in her brothers assension to being #blessed.
> 
> Oh yes. Now it’s all coming together.

Dream patiently waited by a large oak tree at four o-cloak in the morning.

This would be just about the only time he could properly meet up with Tubbo.

**_uNAtuRaL_ **

**_DIsGuSTanG_ **

**_hiDe_ **

He shook his head with annoyance as the voices started to act up once again to try and get rid of the random thoughts.

Everything was slowly changing in a bad way.

A proper meeting in only six days of which ‘King Eret’, a total sham, JSchlatt, the alcoholic dictator, and BadBoyHalo, who was a murderer in sheep’s wool.

What a meet up!

At least he would be allowed to attend on the actual stage to instruct his little figure head and not have to stand below and watch the proceedings.

Still, it would be the perfect time to set his little toy soldier up to go kaboom.

He’d fiddled around with the tnt, had a full stack of ender pearls, as well as had a totem of undying with him. There was no way that Wilbur Soot would catch him too badly in the crossfire.

In fact, the whole schtick with blowing up Manberg could end their war once and for all!

Just as long as Schlatt and Bad died in the blast, Wilbur was revealed to have done the deed, and Dream escaped, then he would definitely end up as the sole ruler!

Eret could also die in the blast. Any use that man used to have had been completely gone for weeks now.

The snapping of branches alerted him to another presence.

Dream hunched down into a crouching position just in case the incoming person didn’t happen to be Tubbo.

It was him, however, and he hadn’t even seemed to notice that there was another person already at the spot.

“Hello, Tubbo!”

Dream walked out from his little hiding space over to the kid, who’d let out a squeal of fright.

Hah. How funny.

“So, how’s everything been lately? I’d  _ love _ to hear any new information.”

Tubbo flinched violently as Dream moved just a small bit closer.

“I-I-I didn’t s-see you there, D-Dream.”

The kid breathed loud breaths that were an obvious side effect from his fear. The older felt joy from seeing how just his visage could lead someone to such levels of terror.

“That wasn’t much of an answer now, was it?”

Tubbo shuffled around on the spot. Not saying anything in particular, even though that had  _ specifically  _ ordered for him to do so!

“Well, you must be working on plans with Schlatt and Co about that meeting in a few days! I’d love to hear any insider knowledge of the seating or how it’s going to go. Right?”

The kid looked as if he were cringing. Or maybe close to crying, he’d heard before that he was intimidating to look at.

“I… I’m not t-that involved with t-this one.”

“Well, even if you don’t know  _ too _ much you’re still involved. What kind of person wouldn’t let their secretary of state handle something as small as that?”

It was a low jab at Wilbur. Everyone knew that Tubbo hadn’t ever  _ seriously  _ had control over something or event.

The kid had more responsibility with Schlatt around! Which said a lot seeing as the guy was so screwed up in the head that he’d made a public execution for the very child in question.

Thankfully, everything should be over soon.

There had been something bothering him for a while, now.

The voices often spoke about how ‘unnatural’ Tubbo was, leading him to have believed about him being blessed.

What if it wasn’t a blessing, though?

To have somehow lived through his own execution and managed to heal up in such a short time was an impossible feat for any normal human.

That was the only evidence suggesting though, that he could truly be blessed, however.

There was no sacrifice.

No god existed that didn’t need at least one life to be given to them, and for the young boy to have been brought back from death would have meant that one, he’d killed someone  _ before _ the execution for a second chance after death.

Then two, the person he’d killed would have gone missing.

Unless the person killed was Skeppy, but that would be unlikely due to the bizarre occurrences over in the ‘Badlands’.

A sacrifice had to be someone of whom had been previously close to you. Family worked the best, as he knew from his very own experiences.

Tubbo couldn’t have killed anyone, unless it had been before they’d met.

That was practically impossible! Unless the boy had somehow been possessed or something.

Actually, no. It was completely impossible for such a kid to have been blessed.

Everything had been his own fault for taking the voices too literally.

The kid was unnatural. An abomination.

_ Not Human _ .

“I-I only know about t-the seating arrangements.”

Dream was brought back out from his internal musings at Tubbo’s words.

One thing here at a time.

“Well, do you have drawn up sheets showing these arrangements? Maybe something you would’ve brought down to Pogtopia with you when you went there. I heard you, Techno, and Philza, all had a nice meet up and gathering.”

Tubbo froze in his tracks. The boy started shivering and looking as if he’d seen something that shouldn’t have ever crossed his line of sight.

Good. If his memories came back, or even if he was just starting to believe Dream, it would be  _ so  _ much easier to manipulate him.

The sound of a bee buzzing around him suddenly assaulted his mind.

**_KilL_ **

**_dEStrOy_ **

**_MAiM_ **

What was that?!

A darkish bee bumbled around Tubbo’s head in circles. Somehow calming the kid down enough to breathe properly.

We’re the voices reacting to him or the bee?

That sold him upon his newest idea.

Of course. Tubbo wasn’t a human at all! He’d been adopted by Philza at some age or another, so there was nothing going against this new thought.

Humans could not heal quickly, nor could they bond with animals.

But the Shapeshifters could.


	25. The feeling gets stronger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why did I just get obsessed with the Denovian period of time again? I’ve already had a whole thing with the Andrewsarchus just a small while ago as well as the Entelodont and I don’t know how I am supposed to deal with myself.
> 
> Also, it’s Christmas Day tomorrow! Merry Christmas Eve for now :)

Dream’s mask stared at Tubbo in a way he didn’t particularly like.

He’d managed to only just gather himself up for the extremely early meeting in the morning, but only now had realised that he hadn’t fully contemplated the dream from the night.

Every single detail was permanently fixed into his mind.

Lani. She must have been his sister.

That certainly felt weird to think about. Was she still alive? Or had she died in the box with him as a child who looked even younger than him.

Something about how she looked was also different. She’d seemed to be a hybrid, so why wasn’t he?

Was this shock? Was he in shock?

Tubbo felt way too calm for having just learnt he was a brother.

Then there were the other places to think about.

It was very obvious that it wasn’t just some regular old dream he’d had. After all, he wasn’t a very regular person himself.

None of the places were in Manberg, or at least visible places.

The first one to think about was the burnt skulls being collected within the cave looking underground bunker.

It was very likely that they were for Wither’s, and there was only one person who would aim for such a large amount of destruction and could kill so many. Technoblade must have such a horrible lair.

Secondly, there was the library.

The books were different from any scrolls or regular books, and seemed to have been made with care unlike regular books nowadays. Then there was the powerful aura surrounding them that incited feelings of rebellion within him.

Next, there was the cave with ivy and moss growing upon every inch other than the well kept chandelier.

This, he actually had an idea of where it was. The ivy looked similar to that of which wrapped around the Badlands in a tight hold that looked unkempt constantly. The chandelier however, he hadn’t seen before. As well as it being an unknown object it also felt  _ wrong _ somehow. Like it shouldn’t exist.

Well, Tubbo knew exactly where to look to find it.

The fourth place was a village which was likely killed off.

The laughter in the background sounded insane and joyous, and as well as that it also sounded like it had come from young children. Another thing about the laughter was just how familiar it sounded.

Then there was the fifth place.

This was something he had no idea about. The paper lists had been floating in the air while  _ something _ was bored. Perhaps it was a god or demonic entity watching over him and waiting for him to end everything already or fail.

Finally, there was his box.

No. That was to think about for a different time. Dream’s meeting had been almost forgotten about by him, so the only time possible for such reminiscing was on the walk/run to the chosen spot.

Now, he stood in conversation with a mentally ill maniac who loved fighting and thought that Tubbo was his spy.

Perfect for his plan, but exhausting.

“So? You going to answer my question?”

Dream spoke up in his planned silence. Tubbo wasn’t that weak to have actually fallen for the jab at his confidence.

“I-I didn’t-”

“Oh is it because you left early?”

Interrupting him again? Why did everyone always have to do that?

“Yeah, I know everything your doing. I even know about how the Badlands were trying to recruit you at your appointment together, and it’s how I found that ‘secret’ base of yours.”

Tubbo made it so he flinched back and made a fearful face.

“I-I didn’t make a-any charts o-or-”

“Well then just f*cking  _ tell _ me about what you know.”

Interrupting. That was new.

Dream slammed his hand into the tree next Tubbo, which made him jump from the ‘fear’ of everything.

It seemed as if the man were agitated or frustrated about something. Whether or not it was him didn’t really matter too much, but it was funny to see him so emotional when before the election all he did was fight.

“O-on the podium! L-leaders and o-other people will-will sit up there a-and see some kind o-of show before they t-talk about laws!”

Fake tears gathered in his eyes when Dream finally drew back from the violent movement he’d done.

The masked person’s head tilted in an innocent seeming way.

“Well, that was easy, wasn’t it! Any idea on what sort of  _ show  _ there’ll be?”

No. But Tubbo had a pretty good guess that it would be an imitation of the festival and would definitely involve him.

“I-I don’t! I really d-don’t know and I-I’m  _ sorry _ -”

Dream pulled a netherite axe out from his belt, cutting him off mid sentence.

Despite how much he’d changed, he still felt terror echo within him as a response.

No, he wasn’t a weakling anymore Tubbo was  _ strong _ .

“You see this axe, kid?”

He nodded fearfully, peering distrustful eyes to the weapon that could possibly end his life.

Shadow comfortingly buzzed near him, while the shadows remained forever at his side as a method that might only possibly work once .

Dream looked as if he gave an evil smirk behind the mask, before he threw the axe directly at Tubbo’s head.

He noticed that it wasn’t actually heading to behead him and was instead for the tree behind him, but a flurry of really flinches attacked at his nerves and senses.

That very axe slammed fully deep into the wood behind him with a loud wham that made sleepy birds flee from the trees around them.

“This axe is what I am going to use to  _ chop _ off your head, if you lie to me.”

It was a threat, and a very possible one too.

While he physically shook at the words, inside all he could think about was just how truly dangerous all of this was.

It was a game for everyone, nobody expected to lose with their secret moves.

Dream was one such person, slowly deluding himself to any conclusion that would possibly make sense and going insane from the constant thinking over he was doing.

Was this the sort of person they all were?

“I-I-I’m not lying I-I  _ swear _ .”

Dream must have grinned when thinking about how his plan had worked so well.

“Good boy. See you in a few days, or maybe even sooner.”

The man then left. Walking off into the forest as if naught but a dream.

Would killing them all… make Tubbo just like them?

He didn’t know the truth and wasn’t sure if he truly wanted too.

A boy in the early morning collapsed and fell to the ground. Darkness colliding around him in a flurry of shadows and intolerable confusion.


	26. Ideas we had

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So. I just came back from the country side and visiting my family where there wasn’t any wifi. This is why I couldn’t update I am sorry :(

It was 8:30 in the morning when Tubbo finally had freshened up and was ready for the White House office work he’d have to do.

Of course, that didn’t mean that he was in perfect condition.

The shadows, and Shadow, had comforted him in a way that not even Tommy or Wilbur had ever done before.

Morals were something that felt icky to him, now that he was training to be a Demon.

Maybe, it had just only set in what he was doing.

This was just pure murder. Murderous revenge. Murder was still… he didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Tubbo should have been  _ better _ to not let Dream of all people make him doubt himself.

God he sure hoped that today Schlatt wouldn’t make too much of a fuss about things.

—————

“Bad news, Sapnap has just made an enemy of the Badlands.”

Tubbo winced as Schlatt slammed his coffee cup down onto the table with a resounding thud.

“What the f*ck do you mean, George?!”

Foolish. He’d thought that for one day he could have a quiet office surrounded only by paperwork and his own thoughts.

Actually, just the paperwork.

George shrugged his shoulders absentmindedly while looking unconcerned. He was, technically, untouchable for fear of Dream’s wrath.

“I don’t really know all the details, but…”

Schlatt took a swig from his cup. A decidedly not coffee like liquid splashing out of the top.

“Go on, George.”

The man in question just shrugged again, before answering.

“Sapnap killed off every animal they had there, zoo animals, and livestock. Apparently he left the bodies, as well as killed the kids.”

Schlatt let out a huge sigh and spun his chair around looking both angry and done.

“For f*cks sake. We’re literally having a meeting in, what, like six days or something? And this idiot thinks he can go and try to start a motherf*cking war?!”

George’s mouth narrowed in the corners at the words. Likely, being because of the slander towards his friend, Tubbo surmised.

“Bloody hell, Tubbo! Tubbo, come here for a sec!”

Well, Schlatt had called him.

He stumbled out from his chair, making sure to slightly slip, before making his way over to his ‘boss’ as the picture of nervousness.

“Yes! I-I’m here, Schlatt!”

The older man rolled his eyes at him, while George just gazed at him, with unreadable glasses hiding whatever true feelings he had.

“God, could you have been any slower?”

He faked a flinch from the words and quickly went to speak his apologies.

“I-I’m sorry Mr President S-Sir.”

Then once done he looked down to his shoes with the forced fearful expression never leaving his face.

“F*cking hell. Just do it next time, okay? Anyway. As you must have heard, we have a problem over in the Badlands. We’re just lucky that BadBoyHalo isn’t the sort of person who would take revenge, but AntFrost?”

He gave a big and long suffering breath, as if even talking about such a thing was giving him a headache.

“So, George. You’ll be taking Tubbo over there to try and sort some things out. I expect the  _ two  _ of you to both be well behaved, and to show a good impression of our beautiful Manberg.”

Schlatt’s attention then turned over to him.

“Tubbo, I want you to do whatever friendship is magic bullsh*t you do to try and get them to see reason over there. Also, if you see Niki, make sure to tell her that the radish farms in the west quarter were destroyed by mobs so she can’t keep those two.”

The goat hybrid then flicked his wrist and gave a wave of his hand.

“Shoo now. Best get this sh*t over and done with.”

Tubbo looked over to George who’d already turned around and scrambled after him to also leave.

“Oh, and Tubbo.”

He turned around just in time to see Schlatt give a menacing grin.

“Don’t you dare screw things up, got it?”

Tubbo nodded frantically before running to catch up with George who’d already left. Shadow immediately following the two of them, as soon as they got out from the building.

—————

Well, they hadn’t been joking about  _ every _ single animal being killed.

The stench of blood filled his nostrils before Tubbo had even seen the carnage.

Carnage, it sure was.

Mangled bodies fit the span of the entire former zoo and safe haven. Despite what looked like a sling used for getting rid of bodies, the job was far from over.

Tubbo tried not to look over at the tree of which he’d spent time with the bees. Shadow also snuggled right into the croke of his neck to comfort him, or herself.

George’s face looked apathetic, or disgusted at most. He had to make sure that the only expressions on his own face were that of fear and sadness from the meaningless slaughter.

“Move ahead Tubbo. They're just animals after all.”

He spun to face the older man. George just looked annoyed with his own shock and just strode easily past a sheep's corpse, and over to the main building.

Tubbo then sniffed at a faked tear dripping down his face. While in reality, the event was still shocking.

No. He couldn’t deal with so many things in one day.

Just… focus on the now.

“Oh! I really hoped someone else would be coming to help us!”

BadBoyHalo himself ran out from behind them. The house being seemingly empty.

Bad himself had some stains of blood over his clothing. He was huffing and puffing as if he’d ran from his previous location, and probably had judging from his personality.

Surprisingly, however, he didn’t seem too disturbed over the mounds of bodies nearby.

“Hey, Bad. I’m just hear to talk about he treats and stuff. Tubbo can help you, but I’m not doing any work.”

He’d made himself give a shocked look over to George who’d said the surprisingly mean statement. Judging from how Bad had used to be a part of the whole Dream team, something must have happened to have driven them so far apart.

Just what had happened, exactly.

“Oh no! I wouldn’t have expected you guys to, even though it would a big help, this isn’t really a good sight!”

Tubbo gulped and made a quick glance to the corpses besides them all. It was a pig that had its throat torn out, so he didn’t have to fake a real wince before turning back around.

“I’m sorry, would it be okay if you were to come inside? Even though I’ve been hour here all day burying their bodies, I don’t want to subject you guys to having a conversation outside.”

George immediately pushed past Bad and walked in through the doorway.

Tubbo made sure he looked both nervous and sick, but on the inside?

He knew this day probably wouldn’t get any better.


	27. Are leaving us Bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I write these out an hour before I publish them :,)

“Come, take a seat!”

The three of them sat down at a simple wooden table in what was a seemingly regular log cabin.

This time, there was no AntFrost to deliver them drinks.

Bad smiled at them with his tired eyes. Man probably hadn’t had a wink of sleep for such a long time.

George didn’t care about that, though.

Ever since he’d sided with Quackity the whole world had gone to absolute sh*t to say the least.

Dream deserved L’Manberg, so every candidate with a possible chance of becoming President needed to have some kind of connection to them.

There wasn’t much of a chance for anyone other than Wilbur to win, but somehow Schlatt became the leader of what was now Manberg.

All of this because of  _ stupid  _ Quackity being an absolute dumba*s.

He’d just sleepy through the whole election, then only found out about what happened when Dream started yelling from inside his little basement nobody was allowed into.

The fact that even his friend couldn’t have predicted Schlatt winning meant that the man was chaos incarnate.

That turned out to be even more true once the festival occurred.

Tubbo, that short little kid that Wilbur Soot loved to toy with, had been put on the front lines and stuffed into a toy suit to act and plan out his own execution.

Weirdly enough however, he’d come back to life only to screw things up even more.

Look. Even George knew that there was no possible way for a normal person to have survived such an explosion.

Even Quackity and Schlatt who’d been on the stage at the time had suffered from burns that took two healing potions  _ each _ to cure.

The kids had certainly died! There wasn’t even a body left!

Of course, he could have pearled away. That was just about the only option!

The scars… they proved otherwise, though.

He’d definitely been hit, then somehow healed.

Dream knew what had happened, though! He always had a plan, no matter what the problem was.

George just wasn’t ready to hear the truth.

He was obviously trusted! More than anyone else Dream knew, even though he’d been the last to have met the former group of Sapnap, BadBoyHalo, and Dream, of course.

George would always be by his side, and his friend knew that.

Bad split off a while ago to be with his own best friend. An annoying diamond ore hybrid, who was uncomfortably interested in Dream when Bad had introduced the two.

Sapnap was slowly going crazy from the influence of some kind of mob. Served him right for making friends with the enemy!

The only problem with that was how now he wasn’t as funny, and only made problems for them.

Just like now.

Here he sat, in his former friend now murderer’s kitchen. With a previously dead Secretary of State next to him, who was only sixteen.

“So!”

Bad spoke. Smiling tiredly despite the gruesome violence outside.

“What are you guys here to talk about?”

Tubbo, who was looking very pale began.

“U-um, so Schlatt wanted t-to check how you were d-doing! With the d-deaths and all.”

George scoffed. Imagining Schlatt caring about the deaths of some inconsequential animals was just hilarious.

“For some reason I don’t really think that he’d care that much. It’s fine though! I know everyone will be concerned about the meeting, and I won’t make things hard just because of something Sapnap did of his own volition.”

Something green flickered in the corner of his eye and George immediately turned around to see what had just scampered past them.

He drew out his sword from the hilt on his waist to the shock of the two around him to check.

If someone had been invisible and just brought out a poison potion then-

Nothing.

No tell tale signs of particles floating in the air.

Nothing at all.

“George.”

What had that been? A leaf?!

“George.”

Muffled yelling didn’t matter what mattered was the potential  _ threat _ -

“George!”

He finally came to his senses. Looking over to see both Bad and Tubbo staring at him in disbelief.

George realised that at some point he’d completely left his seat.

Tubbo looked both shocked and scared. As if he thought that he was going to be stabbed through instead of the unseen threat hiding somewhere in the building.

Bad seemed to be almost angry. Having known the man for a fair amount of time it was getting a bit easy to tell whenever he was faking an expression.

Now though? What had he seen.

“George! Are you okay? You weren’t responding!”

Bad spoke with fake concern.

Everything was just always  _ fake, _ so fake.

Tubbo then reached out to place a shaky hand of his arm which George immediately threw off. Shrugging away the flinches from the younger boy.

“What? You think I’m hallucinating?!”

Their confused expressions were funny. So  _ hilarious _ .

There had definitely been something there! He wasn’t hallucinating or seeing things it was a real flash of-

“I think you should leave.”

His gaze shot to Bad who’s eyes had narrowed in a rare full display of anger. Tubbo was still completely oblivious to whatever was going on, it was all just so stupid!

George let out a short laugh.

“What. Why should I leave, Bad? Got something you don’t want me to see?”

His former friend flinched at the words, looking almost shocked.

He took that as a sign to continue.

“You hiding something here, Bad? You want us to run away and never find-”

“That’s enough!”

Bad yelled out standing up from the table. Before looking calmer eyes down to Tubbo.

“Just stay there. I think that  _ George _ should go and wait outside for a little bit.”

George just smiled at the words. Not trying to say anything in his defence.

On their way out from the building he whispered to Bad with both humour and malice.

“You murderer.”

The other man only flinched. Depositing him outside his doorstep with nothing but rotted corpses as his companions.

“You don’t even know a thing. Do you?”

Bad slammed the door on him. Leaving George to laugh hysterically, alone.


	28. A thirst for knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s New Years Eve! Also. Things will be beginning to change around here soon :)

“I’m sorry about that.”

Bad sat down facing Tubbo at the table. Looking sad and slightly embarrassed at the same time.

“No no i-it’s fine! I-I get why we might all b-be on edge...”

He trailed off the sentence giving out a hesitant chuckle.

Shadow buzzed pleasantly from atop his shoulder. Keeping him much more calm in this situation than he would have liked.

George had spotted one of his shadows and reacted immediately. It’d been one he wasn’t fully sure about how to use yet, the new tinted lime green present from the  **s o m e t h i n g** that reacted just like the rest of his shadows and the same abilities.

It was just that the split second Tubbo had begun moving it under the table George had somehow gotten a glimpse of the colour itself.

Fantastic.

Today had been amazing!

Talking with Dream, subsequent panic attack, another panic attack, office work, animal slaughter, and now a conversation with someone who may or may not be a Demonic entity judging by looks alone.

Not even mentioning the fact that there had been a chance of him being spotted by none other than Dream’s right hand man!

Perfect.

BadBoyHalo looked weary enough for the small smile he gave to seem true.

“You’re a very understanding person, Tubbo.”

Oh wait, he had to be interested in this conversation.

Bad just continued onwards. Not even noticing that the boy at his table was daydreaming instead of properly listening.

“I don’t know why George got so  _ ratty _ there!”

He nodded along trying to focus back on what was being said.

“I mean. Normally even on the  _ best _ of days he isn’t too happy. Now though, he’s just taking his anger out on anyone!”

Bad then turned concerned eyes over to him.

“I hope no one's been taking their anger out on you, Tubbo.”

The pity in Bad’s voice at the time snapped him out of whatever struggles he’d been having and back to the present.

So. He wanted to manipulate him by pulling a pity card? Why not try and adhere to his standards!

“A-actually they-”

Tubbo froze up. Showing fear and panic from within his expression and retreating from the sentence entirely.

“No, no, no, I-I didn’t-”

He cut himself off again and Bad looked even more pityingly at him.

A smirk almost rose to his mouth.

Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. Frantically rubbing at them to show sincerity, Tubbo sniffled a bit to add a bit more realism to the very fake scenario.

“Did you want to talk about anything, Tubbo? Schlatt hasn’t been mistreating you like Wilbur did! Is he?”

Bad looked so concerned despite having brought up Wilbur to him.

The thought of the older man made a vile taste begin to form at the base of his mouth.

“N-no! Wilbur never w-would…”

Tubbo looked down as if contemplating something.

“H-h wouldn’t…”

Tears began to drip from his eyes.

Bad stood up and then walked towards him, and then without a word hugged Tubbo.

He flinched at the contact at first. The older man was surprisingly very cold to the touch, and there was nothing at all comforting about being held by him.

It was still the first hug he’d had in a long time, however.

Once Bad thought he’d calmed down, he stood up and moved his chair right next to Tubbo of whom was still sniffing the tears away.

The man seemed almost angry.

“I can’t believe them! You’ve been through so much, haven’t you?”

Well. Not that he’d told him anything, but it was probably fairly obvious from how others treated him.

Tubbo settled with just a nod. Agreeing with what the older man said.

BadBoyHalo smiled at him. Nothing but fake serenity and comfort.

“Do you want to stay here for a while? I think George left without you. We can just talk for today!”

For a moment, he pondered his choices.

Stay alone with a possible murderer, or be alone with his own thoughts in an office with both Schlatt and Quackity nearby.

Tubbo nodded.

—————

There wasn’t too much to do in Pogtopia, Tommy thought.

The sun wasn’t visible, so time was pretty much anyone’s guess

Farming potatos was just so boring he could barely stand it.

Then even though Philza had come back, all he wanted to do was spend his time with Technoblade despite how they normally adventure with each other, but hadn’t seen both him and Wilbur for ages.

Wilbur… he didn’t really want to be with him right now.

So yeah. Things were going chaotic, but at least there was one thing he could do!

That thing was to talk to Tubbo. As if.

He never spent time with them anymore since the festival. Was it selfish of him to want for his friend to be around more often?!

Tubbo could just run away from Schlatt, and then fight with them in a good old brawl against all these random nations forming around.

There was no point to any of this spy bullsh*t!

The next time they met up, he’d have to try and convince Tubbo to get rid of that bee, though.

The night before had brought a horrible dream. Stingers and blood with that god awful buzzing surrounded him.

That bee was  _ taunting _ him!

Tommy was not the sort of person who would relent to the attacks of others! He was a big man that didn’t need any help!

Not that Wilbur believed him, but it was true!

Yes. Tommy was the strongest of them all.

Apart from maybe Technoblade or Philza, but they had never really counted in the first place.

L’Manberg would definitely collapse without him!

Wilbur needed him for his strength and awesomeness.

Then Tubbo couldn’t live without him! He was the person who  _ made  _ him into who he was!

Yeah. Tubbo would definitely understand when he asked for the bee to be killed. They were friends after all!

Best friends stick together. Right?


	29. helP Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS WHOLE STORY WAS MEANT TO BE THREE CHAPTERS LONG WHAT HAPPENED?! IVE NEVER DONE THIS MUCH WRITING FOR A STORY BEFORE AND WE ARE SO CLOSE TO BEING AT THIRTY CHAPTERS LONG WHAT?!

A long and sprawling field of daisies filled every inch they could find.

Except, the field was all that there was, while the sky was nothing but an empty expanse of grey.

Perhaps, this place wasn’t even meant for the living.

This was still home, however.

A breeze from some unknown source pushed the flowers lightly before settling down again.

Things here… they were calm. Different, even.

Nothing like back at-

No.

This was a new life.

The place where fighting wasn’t the norm, nor power the one item that would want to be possessed.

A world of peace, and tranquility.

If only others could experience this too.

Happiness.

What if there were a way to let others live through a rebirth? To save those fallen souls who died in vain, just like they had been saved!

What if they created a group of people just like them?

Those of whom could kill gods themselves. Just like they had done before.

A hand reached down to pluck out a single daisy from the many below. Then after a moment of admiring its beauty, they let it go.

The lone flower drifted in the air. Before being blown fair up into the grey sky above.

It was time for this place to become home.

—————

“So Schlatt doesn’t treat you well. Does he.”

Just a few minutes ago BadBoyHalo had ushered out his former friend, who apparently knew what Niki’s unfortunate fate was.

He didn’t understand though!

George should have been a person who would understand why he had to do what he did!

The image of overflowing gravel filled his mind for a split second, before Bad shook it away.

Out of all people George should know that sometimes to save a friend you’d have to sacrifice another.

In fact, he’d probably done  _ worse _ than Bad!

The whole reason he’d begun to drift away from the Dream team was because of Skeppy asking for his help, and whatever was going on with Dream himself.

They knew that he had some kind of connection to the torn and burnt book they’d found, though.

But Dream was crafty.

He knew when people were trying to get information out of him, and was always quick to shut them down.

Skeppy… wasn't the most stealthy person, especially when excited.

Dream sat him down, and asked one simple question.

Him, or me.

So Bad thought that he chose the correct choice.

For him to be made to decide which friend to stay friends with, it was an obvious choice to choose the one who didn’t try and force him to decide.

Not that he wouldn’t have chosen Skeppy, either way.

His friend was the outlier to most rules. Being the person that Bad wished he could be and more.

The sun in his sky, who lit up his life.

Tubbo sat in front of him, unknowingly about his plans.

Bad felt, well,  _ bad _ about how he was using such a young kid.

There had been so many wars here, and most participants hadn’t even been over the age of 20.

Seriously. The oldest of them was  _ Schlatt  _ himself! Everyone was just so young and-

No! He had to  _ focus _ . Focus for Skeppy’s sake!

“I… I-I d-don't know w-why he  _ h-hates  _ me-”

Tubbo trailed off from his sentence with gasping breaths. Bringing the focus all back to him.

Bad quickly went over to him and placed what he thought would be a comforting hand on Tubbo’s back only for the boy to flinch back once again.

He should have remembered he can’t stand touch!

About to take his hand back, suddenly he felt Tubbo slightly lean in.

Oh. This was good Bad realised distantly as the touch starved but abused kid sobbed under his touch.

Did this mean… that Tubbo was beginning to trust him?

That really would make things a lot easier for him.

This was perfect! A complete success!

However, a buzzing that rang in his ears nearby made him on edge. Uncertain, even. About his own small victory.

“Sorry. You don’t have to fully talk about what you’ve been through. I didn’t mean to make you-”

“N-no! I’m f-f-fine, and you d-don’t need to apologise f-for h-helping since you’ve j-just been so  _ nice _ .”

Tubbo was calming down now. The heavy breaths slowing to a near stop, and his shaking ceasing entirely.

Bad just continued to be a strong supporting body next to him. Probably the only one Tubbo had, his guilty mind suggested.

“I-it’s just t-t-that I wish I-I could leave t-there but-”

This was his  _ chance _ .

“Nobody other than you should decide on whether or not you stay at Manberg, Tubbo!”

The boy froze. Seemingly pondering something at the words.

Yes. Please take the bait! Skeppy’s future  _ depended _ on it.

“I-I  _ can’t.  _ Tommy w-wouldn’t-”

“Tommy also doesn’t need to decide! I know you two are good friends, but this is practically torture!”

Tubbo’s eyes wandered around the room, scared and confused.

Absentmindedly, Bad itched at his forearm. Scratching off the delicate skin in some places which drifted to the floor in a fine dust.

“Where w-would I-I even go?!”

That was- he was actually  _ thinking _ about- yes!

A smile rose to Bad’s face as he began to feel the dredges of excitement settle within his gut.

“You could stay here! We’re technically neutral in the Badlands, but I really don’t approve of how Schlatt’s treated you, and Wilbur! If you became a citizen here you would be completely untouchable!”

The younger boy couldn’t even say a single response to him about it. Looking shell shocked at the thought, while Bad’s very own excitement grew every second.

“You would still be able to be friends with Tommy, maybe even make your relationship better too! Then at the meet in six days time I can argue for him to be brought out of exile and have a limited permission allowance to my lands! Does that sound good to you?”

Tears were forming in Tubbo’s eyes. A choked sob coming from the kid before he suddenly lent over and  _ hugged _ Bad.

“Really?! W-would you r-really bother d-doing this for m-me even though I-I’m not t-talented, or smart?”

Too overwhelmed by the fact that he was being hugged by someone who hadn’t engaged in nonviolent physical contact for years, he didn’t think over his words too well.

“Don’t worry! You're the most useful person I can think of for the job, Tubbo!”

The boy sobbed and snuggled into his side. Bad not even noticing how his eyes had narrowed and that a suspiciously strange shadow had situated itself in the corner of his room.

—————

That night, after checking into the cave and having finished the long task of disposing all possible bodies to destroy, Bad lay down comfortably in his bed and looked up to the bright chandelier above him.

Today had been a good day.

A pure and innocent smile made it’s way onto his face, before he giggled and tucked himself right into the blankets. Not even bothering to turn off the light above him.


	30. Believe in the lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE'VE HIT THIRTY CHAPTERS HOW?!

The night had been rough for Tubbo to say the least.

Doubt was something that had been the previous bane to his existence, before the day he was executed and had most feelings drift away.

Why. Why did he have to care about morals?!

Why could he just be an empty emotionless void like Technoblade, or just completely uncaring like Schlatt?!

Or maybe to just be a follower. A yes man who would  _ go along with the crowd, Tubbo. You're my right hand man after all ! They  _ **_want_ ** _ this, to see you die on this stand as entertainment for the masses. _

Tubbo just couldn’t tell any more what was right or wrong.

So many people were horrible here. In fact, every single person was corrupt.

Feelings were just so complicated. They snapped within his chest, roaring to be let out as weapons or to be used and submissive to the people who’d hurt him before.

When had things become just so bad?

Everything hurt.

Shadow nuzzled into Tubbo’s side as he lay down on the floor next to his bed. Providing the only comfort he could possibly have in such times of despair and darkness.

If nobody in life actually was who they said they were was-

_ “Philza Minecraft, why is my name Tubbo?” _

_ Tommy burst into laughter while the much younger, and unscarred, boy who’d asked the question pouted because of his friend. _

_ Philza himself sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, before putting the book he’d been reading face first on his special chair. Having been home for three days he’d decided to catch up on the dusty books that had been collected many years ago but now could only rot away. _

_ “You do know you can call me Phil, Tubbo. What’s all this about then?” _

_ The young Tommy snickered impishly, before shoving his friend right towards the older man on their normally empty cushioned chair. _

_ Wilbur never really told them why they should leave it empty, but they obeyed immediately as soon as their older brother began to grow near tears in his eyes as they tried to sit on the long dusty surface. _

_ A lot of the items in this particular room were dusty. _

_ Tubbo pouted even more as he stumbled over before falling face first onto the ground. _

_ Philza rolled his eyes as Tommy descended into even more maniacal laughter, meanwhile Tubbo himself stood up with the small beginnings of tears in his eyes. _

_ “Tommy said that Tubbo wasn’t a real name! I just wanted to know why you called me it so that I can prove him wrong about this.” _

_ The kid was in near hysterics. _

_ Just to calm him down Philza made some placating motions with his hands to try and stop the young kid before he started to fully cry. _

_ Tommy wasn’t helping with anything either. _

_ “This whole thing was from two months ago! You're still talking about it now?” _

_ Another laugh made his small body shake at the sentence. Something about his best friend making him laugh and laugh. _

_ Philza himself had to conceal a little smirk from his youngest’s antics. _

_ “You do remember that you were the one who told me what your name was when we first met, right?” _

_ Tubbo looked both scandalised and teary eyed. The combination of that, and Tommy’s laughing fit reaction to the news, making the smirk he’d hidden accidentally make its way to the surface. _

_ “Well. When we first met Tubbo. You were in a small box on a hill miles away from here, right?” _

_ The beginning of his story made the two kids quieter down minutely and start paying attention. _

_ The smirk on his face rose a slight bit more. _

_ “You were only seven years old at the time, and were so tired that when I asked what your name was, all you said was Tubbo!” _

_ “Question!” _

_ Tommy stood up bouncing excitedly, looking almost as if he were desperate for the toilet. _

_ “Why was Tubbo in a box?!” _

_ Tubbo looked as if a truth had just dawned upon him, before nodding as well. _

_ “Why was I in a box, Philza Minecraft?” _

_ He sighed at the last name put on the end. Before memories of that night flashed through his mind. The smirk disappearing as quickly as it had come. _

_ “I don’t…” _

_ The vivid shots of that fateful night rampaged through his senses. Making the room around him feel suffocating. _

_ “I don’t… know. You woke up and couldn’t remember anything at all, so you were probably all alone.” _

_ Tubbo looked devastated from the news. Looking down at his hands in surprise. _

_ Tommy grinned and slung his arm around his surprised friend’s neck, and drew him in close by. _

_ “You’re lucky you were left in that box, Tubbo! I wouldn’t have had my best friend if it weren’t for that!” _

_ The mood suddenly lifted. The solemn air receding from the younger’s words before the two smiled and stood up together to play again. _

_ Suddenly, a mischievous smile made its way onto Tommy’s face as he grinned at both his friend and dad. _

_ “Beside. We’ve done so much cool sh*t that all the babes will want us” _

_ “Language!” _

_ The rest of that night was spent with the two of them getting a firm admonishment. Tommy not showing any remorse, while Tubbo just giggled at his friends' habits. _

_ The next day, Philza left. After paying a  _ **visit to Tubbo’s room what was he doing why couldn’t he remember please why was she-**

Tubbo woke up in a cold sweat. Only five days until the meeting to decide on the fate of all citizens of the Dream SMP.


	31. You've heard them all before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So. Um. From the 9th of January and then a week after I won’t be able to post seeing as I’ll be doing some hiking and stuff. Whoops.

Fundy sat upon the floor of his room, staring wide eyes up to the daunting book upon his dresser.

Innocently, it waited.

Called him, even!

His diary of a spy.

It’d just been made so that in case of an emergency he could switch sides immediately. Going back to Wilbur Soot.

His dad.

Was it weird that Fundy held nothing but hate for his father?

For his whole life, even when he was once a she, Wilbur had been nothing but a doting dad. Someone on the outside would know they had nothing other than love between them.

They never saw the strength in his ‘pacifist’ fathers grip whenever he gave a hug.

What use did a man have, who didn’t even like armour, to own an entire basement of weapons!

The unnatural way that the flames flickered in his eyes as Wilbur saw an open fire.

Why did a man, such a loving and kind father, immediately decide that war of all things was the perfect answer against Dream.

Most nights he dreamt of a scenario in which both him and Eret pressed the button. Actually managing with all their combined efforts to permanently kill off L’Manberg.

The election had been his way out! Fundy’s way of sending a good ol’ f*ck you to his dad and uncles who were more like siblings.

Then Schlatt turned into an evil maniac as well.

Then the Dream team began to hold grudges, and become more brutal in their methods.

Even motherf*cking BadBoyHalo who probably murdered the girl who was practically his own mum with how often she was around!

Sally was a topic nearly ever encroached upon. The obvious truth of her being a full blooded shape shifter while none were meant to have existed in years was something close to an unspoken truth.

Fundy was always treated as the dumb one. His strongly present fox features making people think he was younger than he really was.

So the diary.

Which of the four horrible leaders should Fundy choose to dictate his life.

If he were to betray Schlatt and go straight back to Wilbur it would need to be now. Have a few days to plan before the big meeting of which would give them even more power.

Just a sly fox, right? Betraying whoever’s on the losing side.

He shook off the thought in an instant. Remembering that now was the time to choose.

Pogtopia, or L’Manberg?

That day when Fundy walked to his position as main guard on duty, the smell of burnt paper and smoky wood followed him close behind.

—————

Today, Tubbo was running late for work.

Thirty-one minutes late, to be exact.

After waking up in a total mess, he’d looked over to the cloak to find that it was already nine-thirty in the morning. Meaning that in the span of one minute Tubbo had gotten changed and eaten some raw mutton.

Then now was currently running to the office, with Shadow frantically buzzing after him.

Schlatt himself would never be late to work.

No matter how much of a hangover he had, there was always an intimidating figure seated at his desk reading over something or other.

Small remnants of fear and anxiety tugged at his bones. What will Schlatt do if he gets found out? What if they have been waiting for this moment to do the festival 2.0?!

Tubbo found that the best way to quell such thoughts was to think over his dream from last night, or well, memory, he should say.

It was the second time he’d ever met Philza, and at the time both him and Tommy were eleven years old.

The first time had been at the age of seven. When he’d first been found by the man.

Philza had stayed with them for a whole month. Short memories of the times were of Tommy and Wilbur being so very happy, while Technoblade was a robed and weary figure who hid in doorways far away from him.

The moment that he and Tommy woke up to find an angry and disappointed Wilbur, being comforted by Niki who held Fundy behind them. A short note in their brother's hand saying ‘I’ll be off now.’

Tommy said that it was a normal thing for Philza to do, and that the man had never stayed for such a long time before.

Tubbo had simply remained quiet and done most chores around the house to try and make him feel better.

The second visit Philza gave had been one of peace and tranquillity.

Things in their household got a lot better around for Wilbur, their dad being home from unfathomable adventures being the source for all conversation.

Then, after a week, he’d gone.

The third and final time they’d been together was blurry in his mind. Something that activated obvious alarms in his head.

This one had been the most recent, so why was everything so fuzzy?

So many questions all the time! Everything was just so-

He skidded on the dirt outside of the Whitehouse. Nearly falling over and onto his side.

From the window he could see gleaming horns, and a glaring expression, staring down at him.

Oh sh*t.

Schlatt walked off and disappeared from his view. Obviously to come down and… chastise him.

Shadow bonked her fuzzy head against his side. Staring large insect eyes up and into his soul.

He wished that she wouldn’t have to stay outside.

Then so, with a heavy heart, Tubbo picked up his pace and ran inside. Leaving Shadow all by her lonesome.

But don’t worry!

They were both already used to being alone.


	32. Cut all of your ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got called a pumpkin by another author and now my life is completed.

Tubbo ran right into the office, and immediately felt the traces of fear left from his time as a normal human being.

Quackity was seated on his regular chair, and was completely avoiding eye contact. The slight shivering of his shoulders being a noticeable change from his disposal before the festival, and Schlatt’s election into office.

Schlatt himself sat on Tubbo’s own chair.

As the man often talked about, his horns showing the peculiarities that came from being the offspring of a ram hybrid father, and a goat hybrid mother.

They twisted and curled. Their tips reached the corner points of each end from his smile, that looked just as twisted as Schlatt’s mind was.

Being late was definitely not a good occurrence.

He skidded in his tracks while huffing and puffing. Fear shining from within large eyes at the two.

“Eyyyy, Tubbo! Come over here for a sec. Wouldja?”

Memories of his time before the festival flooded his mind. Never once had Tubbo been late, in fear of what punishment might come from such a drastic mistake.

Shadows curled within his reach. They comforted him as much as they could when Shadow his bee couldn’t be near.

If Schlatt tried anything, they would be there.

Something held him back, however.

A small voice within him muttered about how if Tubbo were to kill them all now, nothing would change.

Sure, it’d all be satisfying at the time, or at least hopefully it would, but still.

Nothing would matter anymore.

The  **s o m e t h i n g** had told him to have fun. There weren't many fun things that were going on at the moment, other than now acting was apparently his forte.

However, if he waited just a  _ few days _ longer.

Tubbo didn’t really know why, but it felt as if he might learn something. Figure out just  _ why  _ revenge needed to be the only option available.

Why everybody hated him.

“Y-yes, Mr Pr-President Sir?”

Then with a shaky voice, Tubbo spoke to the man in front of him.

Schlatt smiled gleefully. Happy to see how obedient he was acting toward him.

Just because power was everything in this world.

The noise that came from Schlatt’s hand smacking the side of his face echoed around the room.

The sheer force of it hadn’t been too much judging by how many others had attacked and hurt Tubbo, but the sheer  _ audacity _ .

A second attack came in the form of a kick to the stomach. Making Tubbo be launched into his own table sending the contents flying all around the room.

Quackity flinched and moved back as a rock paperweight nearly nailed him upside the head.

Tubbo lay down on the floor and stared his fearful, teary eyes while he tried and failed to scramble back as a hoofed foot slammed down onto his leg. A small whimper of pain making its way out from his throat.

The shadows roared their fury in the background.

Schlatt, oh that evil and malicious man, smiled even wider having hurt the young boy.

Then he began to walk towards Tubbo.

He scrambled away over loose papers and binders, not wanting another injury that might affect any ability to run.

Fear, real and honest _ fear _ , filled his mind.

Behind him, shadows began to curl around his fingertips. All providing a weapon if he so needed one.

“So!”

Schlatt said the simple word. Then, placing a foot on top of Tubbo’s chest, began to push down with the intent to harm.

As if everything that hadn’t been done already  _ didn’t  _ have such an intent.

“Would you like to tell me just _ why _ you were late, Tubbo?”

That grin. That awkward toothy smile that had the teeth from three very different species.

It looked so  _ wrong _ and  _ out of place  _ on a real person.

“I-I... I w-was-”

He trailed off of his sentence as Schlatt began to walk back over to his table, of which had miraculously not fallen over during his attack.

The older man trailed his hoofen-clawed hands over the rough surface. As if caressing a lover gently without a threatening touch or harm inducing movement.

Then suddenly, Schlatt snapped his head straight back over to Tubbo of whom still lay on the floor.

This time, anger showed within his eyes.

“If you can’t  _ tell _ me why you were late, I’ll just probably have to assume the worst here, right?”

F*ck.  _ No _ . Say something that will get him  _ out of here please! _ -

“I-I just slept in!”

Finally, the words had made their way out from his mouth. A small triumph, but one nonetheless.

At the look the older man gave him though, Tubbo elaborated.

“I-I didn’t mean t-to! I-I just could g-get much  _ sleep  _ t-the night before and I-I”

“Next time, you better get that f*cking sleep, Tubbo.”

He was being looked down upon.

Schlatt stood above him. Hybrid, in all of his glory.

It was easy to have imagined a cape across the man's shoulders. To have thought of a sword in his grasp, instead of a bottle.

And perhaps, once there was.

Now though, muscles had withered away like the bones underneath his skin. Liver failure was a definite, instead of just a possibility. Grey hairs spouted like a fountain from the man brow and-

Tell me Schlatt, just how do you live with yourself?

A burp made its way from the man as he took his leg off of Tubbo’s chest, providing a better passage for air to flow through.

Then as he heaved and heaved on the ground, Schlatt spoke his final words.

“Next time you disobey me, you're permanently  _ dead _ . Quackity, be up to my office in five.”

Horns glistened in the torch light, as Schlatt strolled away. Far away, he wished.

Tubbo spent the next hour sorting through the things that had flown off of his desk, Quackity having left to speak with Schlatt about something allowing for the shadows to envelop the edges of the room and scream their rage.

The pain soon left him, bruises fading away as fast as they normally did.

Thankfully, the imprint of a cloven hoof upon his chest also healed up and away from the sight of others.

Tubbo’s insides boiled with rage. Fear having made itself almost redundant while these horrible actions continued to be pitted against him.

Schlatt. The man with the twisted heart.


	33. The walk right out the door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you haven’t seen the new note, WE HAVE A DISCORD SERVER NOW BABY! Thank you to the cool Bubbleissimping who had such a cool idea! The invite thingy is in the nates below (:

Quackity nervously loosened his orange tie, which hung across his neck like a noose.

The walk way into his ‘bosses’ office felt stifling. Almost as if Schlatt had intentionally sucked out all of the air to add some more atmosphere to the whole thing.

All of this reminded Quackity of a saying that his mother used to tell him, leading a lamb to slaughter.

If that didn’t fit this scenario, he didn’t know what  _ did _ .

Bloody hell, Tubbo was a goner for sure now. If there had been any chance for survival then it had dropped well down past zeros and negatives that it probably couldn’t even exist in their plane of time.

Giant wooden doors were now the only thing that separated him, from the much older hybrid President.

So Quackity sucked in a breath, before pushing the heavy doors with all of his might.

Four empty liquor bottles lined the way up to Schlatt in a path.

It felt almost as if he were looking at a trail of self destruction, Quackity thought, morbidly.

“Ah, Quackity!”

The man himself spoke.

A half full bottle was firmly clenched between his hybrid hands, and memories of a much better time drew to mind.

Their joke flirting, the few dates Quackity had tricked him into doing, the easy and non-existent tension that hadn’t been real until now.

For a man of whom could easily slaughter a child, never could hold real caring within his heart.

That also reminded him of another thing his mother used to say.

Even if a man treats you right, if they cannot treat another the same then it is a lie you better not believe in.

She had been correct.

The days they’d spent joking around were gone now. And nothing but the relationship between a boss and his employee remained.

If it could even be  _ called  _ that.

“I’m… here, Schlatt.”

The only one who smiled was the goat hybrid. A triumphant look of which showed yes, he’d been the one to change this kid for the worst.

Schlatt set down the bottle in his hands on the desk that didn’t seem to have anything other than some kind of planning documents everywhere.

The thing that stuck out to him most was how while signed, they were nothing that Quackity had seen either him, or Tubbo, prepare.

Cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck.

What were those  _ designs _ ?!

“Well! Let me get down to business here!”

The clap of Schlatt’s hands brought back his immediate attention to the conversation.

“On the day right before the meeting, I’ll need you to bring Tubbo over to Dream territory.”

Quackity’s mind faltered. Why  _ Dream’s  _ area of all places?!

Was this some kind of elaborate plot to get Tubbo in trouble for a violation of some sorts.

Or maybe it was to rid two birds with one stone!

“F*cking hell, you look like I just told you to kill a baby or some sh*t. Dream knows about this so you won’t get into any trouble or something, I just want Tubbo to be taken by someone who I  _ know  _ won’t betray me.”

That… didn’t really help his fear.

For sure, Tubbo was kind of annoying. That didn’t mean that the two of them needed to be dragged into some kind of secret plot which would  _ certainly  _ end with death.

As a fourth generation duck hybrid, Quackity knew that there wasn’t much going for him in the way of animalistic senses.

His mum was the only one there for him, before his time spent over at the surprisingly cool orphanage. She’d had these horrible wings that were small but awfully coloured. The only hybrid traits Quackity getting from her being similar feathers which grew out on his head.

He hated them. She’d been the only person there for him to teach whatever could be taught.

In the end, it was that cursed alcohol which brought her down. Schlatt’s bottles being a stark reminder of what had happened.

It was just that Schlatt never was ‘nice’ in reality.

“W-Why do you want me to take Tubbo over there? Being a day before the meeting people might think-”

“Well people aren’t really  _ good _ at thinking over in our parts of town, right?”

He’d been interrupted by the sardonic man.

Having just spoken a clear jab at the reliability of his subjects Schlatt didn’t look a single bit fearful, while Quackity had let out a small flinch from the sharp words.

“Anyway. Dream’s the only person that I know of who has a functional jail cell that can hold him for a night. Just tell Tubbo that the two of you need to do some state sh*t or something.”

Quackity nervously nodded his head. Completely untrustworthy probably, despite having been singled out as a person who would betray Schlatt.

The man in question suddenly frowned.

“Hey, you’re not gonna go and  _ ignore  _ me. Right?”

He quickly shook his head, unwilling to be yelled at like the chilling display towards Tubbo, of which had occurred only minutes ago.

“No! I’ve heard you loud and clear, boss! Is there a specific time or something then or just whenever-”

“F*cking hell. Just do it in the morning! When Tubbo gets to work or something just say you need him to go somewhere with you and drag him over to Dream’s house!”

Schlatt slammed his hand down onto his desk, disturbing the bottle and making it spill thankfully away from the very not waterproof documents that also lay there.

The ram and goat hybrid breathed heavily while Quackity just  _ wanted to go home _ . Sleep in his own bed! Maybe talk to Karl about  _ something _ ! Just anything but whatever was going on in this hellhole!

At least, he figured, Quackity wasn’t in Pogtopia. Rumour had it, that they weren’t even safe from themselves, and having Technoblade the  _ orphan  _ killer there? That just made him shudder.

“Hey. You can leave now. I’m gonna… drink for the rest of the day.”

Jesus, the man was already drunk.

That didn’t mean his invitation wouldn’t be accepted.

Quackity immediately scuttled out of there. Making sure that the place where he went to procrastinate on work was well away from the two others within the building.

—————

Schlatt knew that this meeting coming up would likely spell disaster for him in the long run.

Taking another drunken swing from a new bottle in his grip, he sat down onto his desks chair. Feeling the dampness from the old spilt drink dribble around his cloven hooves.

He didn’t care.

No, what he did care about was how much  _ fun  _ there was to be had while toying with other’s lives.

This met up was a definite sham for Dream to gain more power. BadBoyHalo or whatever didn’t matter as much in the long term, either.

At the rate that guy was going, he’d be burnt out before long.

Something, however, had reminded him about Dream’s biggest weakness.

That guy really loved his entertainment and ‘family time’. As if what that sick f*ck thought were family was real.

So. During the meeting, a second execution would be held.

Make it  _ real _ nice and gory. Allow for Wilbur and his band of buffoons to watch from whatever rooftop when his former colleague got killed right in front of him!

A public showing. Yeah, Schlatt was still in control here, baby!

Dream would be the one to finish the kid off.

Having him shoot Tubbo in front of every single person alive would prove that even Dream would bow down to him!

The man would definitely kill Tubbo, he sure  _ loved  _ to conduct a real killing.

A maniac's smile slid over his face while a vision played through his mind. One vision that was definitely  _ not  _ for the faint of heart.

Seriously, though. This would be hilarious!


	34. bREath SUlfUr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I spent last night reading angsty fics and now the new stream has happened I need to cry 😔

_ “Mama! Mama! Look what I found!” _

_ “What is it  _ **_tOBy_ ** _?” _

_ “It’s a bee! A huge fluffy bee!” _

_ “Wow! A very fluffy bee! You say?” _

_ “Yeah! Yeah!” _

_ “Well then, where is  _ **_LaNI_ ** _?” _

_ “Uhhh, ummm.” _

_ “ _ **_lAnI!_ ** _ Come here right now! You know we aren’t allowed to do such things when we’re not in village territory!” _

Oh, how the flames burned.  _ Oh _ , how the blood would  _ flow _ !

_ “Sorry Ma.” _

_ “Sorry, Mama.” _

_ “I swear, the two of you are so energetic!” _

_ “But we will be in the village soon!” _

_ “He’s right! It’s just past the big tree!” _

_ “Goodness, do go blaming about where it is in the wild! Remember, we have to be careful!” _

_ “Sorry…” _

_ “Okay, let’s just walk back now! We have the festival going on tonight and I wanted for the two of you to get your best berries!” _

The red which stained every inch of land was not from berries.

_ “Is it antlers tonight? They look so cool!” _

_ “Yes, it is the antlers tonight.” _

_ “I’m so excited!” _

_ “Can I pleaseee help this time?! I wanna do something!” _

_ “You know you can now your five,  _ **_LAni_ ** _. It’s a tradition!” _

_ “I don’t like the food. It’s just all icky stuff!” _

_ “You’ll be fine,  _ **_ToBy_ ** _. It’s only for one night, and I am not to sure that the dearest elder would be very happy about you skipping!” _

_ “Sorry, Mama!” _

Antlers had been there. Thought the stark differences between those that had been torn out, and those that were lovingly placed was obvious.

_ “I WANT MAMA!” _

_ “Shu, shu, you're being a bit too loud, kiddo!” _

_ “I HATE YOU. NO! GIVE ME BACK MAMA-” _

_ “There. What about the unconscious one?” _

_ “I’ll deal with him. I don’t think that he’s got any of their regular abilities, and you-know-who has been talking about a friend for ages.” _

_ “Heh, yeah. About the same age, too. Let’s tell him that the kid’s a year older, to mess with him just a little bit.” _

_ “Are you serious? Well, anyways. I’ll just use  _ **_that_ ** _ to make him forget about all this.” _

_ “Eh. Even if you mess up we could just get another one.” _

_ “First off, I’m not going to forget after such a small amount of time. Then second off, you’ve already killed the rest!” _

_ “Okay, okay. Fine. Just use your ‘godly power’ or whatever where no one will see you.” _

_ “I might have to occasionally rewind his brain back, but it’ll be fine for now.” _

_ “Sure. You wanna help me drop this other thing?” _

_ “Why would I ever want to do that?!” _

Blood soaked the damp ground beneath their feet, while trees lit aflame withered and burnt away in the star light.

A day later, a young boy woke up in his new home, readily changed to be the perfect friend for another kid.

How the fates loved tragedy, indeed.


	35. Bells ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m not very proud of this one sorry :,)

Day five had passed almost exactly as he would have expected.

Wednesday’s were always one of his most busy since under Schlatt, and that wasn’t going to change just because of some accidental wake up call being later than normal.

On Wednesday’s, Tubbo wasn’t expected to eat lunch while in the office.

Nobody had been in the room at the time, so if he’d of asked his shadows to fetch a meal from home then there wasn’t much of a chance for discovery.

He didn’t risk it though.

Things were too rocky, including his current mental state. So Tubbo made the grand decision to take a half an hour break just to clean up all he could.

Mostly, though, to gather his own mind.

Some of the documents he’d painstakingly set up were completely ruined. Something that would be a task for later on in the day, lest Schlatt find something else to yell at him over.

Any sign of his injuries had already disappeared, thankfully.

Pain still remained, but at least there were no bruises to remind him of such a humiliating moment.

The moves that had been used on him, were simple things that anyone who’d have fought in a war could dodge. Only one reason was apparent, in why he’d always endure whatever Schlatt’s abuse for the day was.

He was the President. Despite not being a fighter, or even up to standard physical health, that was the damned President himself.

If one move were made to hurt him, then the one responsible would be killed in response.

Just as he’d thought before, risks could end with permanent death.

However, one risk that Tubbo was content with taking, was Shadow who had buzzed in through the window and settled on his now upturned desk.

  
  
  


As he placed the finally finished documents down onto the table, it was already 6:00pm. Hunger wasn’t too much of a concern, but still matter health wise.

Tomorrow, there was his one day off before the meeting of higher powers.

Guess it was time to meet up with BadBoyHalo.

—————

“Bad, I really don’t think that I can do this…”

AntFrost felt that things were slowly moving out of hand.

Sapnap had… he should have checked that… never mind.

But things were not as they seemed anywhere on the server.

Stories told of the times many years ago in which hundreds of people roamed around the world, different cultures and new religions thrived.

AntFrost had always been a scholar.

History was his forte. When both BadBoyHalo and Skeppy came to him with excited curiosity in their eyes, he just couldn’t say no!

They’d become a band of three.

AweSamDude had also joined their merry little group for a while, before swiftly leaving to chase after his goal of making the greatest redstone mechanism known to man.

To be honest, he thought that seeing as only a few people on the server could create such things, the man probably had already achieved his goal.

Then. When the election had ended. Everything changed.

“I’m sorry, but please, Ant? I just… it’s hard to deal with things now. Isn’t it?”

Yeah. That was only to say the least.

At this specific moment in time the two were standing within their compact kitchen and dining space.

The small area wasn’t what set his cat hybrid senses on fire, though.

Bad stood by their sink while holding a tarp wrapped item within his grasp. The item being something that Ant knew all too well about.

He shuffled nervously, whiskers poofing outwards ever so slightly.

“It's just that- well, even  _ if  _ I fully trust you, I can’t make myself trust  _ that _ !”

Ant pointed to the package that was being held with utmost care within the arms of a slightly demonic looking bat hybrid.

Fear had drilled into his senses like a flaming brand.

The instincts passed on from most all cat hybrids were revered many years ago as Ant had read once before in a book. Those words had made him like his own feral urges and embrace them as such, but now?

He wished that it were anyone other than Bad asking so that he could have refused.

It smelt of brimstone and flesh. The tarp covering up the majority of the fumes, but still allowing for some to leak out across whatever vacant air it could find.

“Ant, you’re the only one I can-!”

Bad trailed off his next sentence. It felt almost as if tears were begging to fall from the man's eyes.

And yet…

“You are… the only person who I can trust, other than Skeppy.”

Hot needles jabbed at his skin. Ant physically recoiled once Bad had set down the vile package onto their table from which they ate off of.

“If I do this for you. Will you promise me something?”

Ant had studied History time and time again. Trying to see just  _ what had gone wrong why had this person mysteriously _ -

Bad swallowed noisily. His feet stuck firm to the ground.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

The open pit in Ant’s stomach widened greatly as he sealed his own fate. Then his voice lowered to a whisper as final words made their way from his lips-

“Alright Bad. I’ll try your drugs. Just, please, look after yourself and not just Skeppy, okay?”

Immediately a flinch made its way over Bad’s body. The man shuddered before nodding with a sick expression covering both his face, and shaking hands.

“Okay.”

The tarp was handed over to him in jagged movements.

As soon as the transaction had finished, Bad fell down onto an open seat to stare down at his own hands. Almost as if he were trying to process how the deal had just happened.

Ant walked right out of that god forsaken house without a single turn to face the truth behind him.

History was his true strength, though artificial muscle brought on by a potion that would almost certainly kill him?

The real strength was Ant’s ability to give up absolutely everything for the ones who had treated him right.

Once out of the house, he took a turn into a cave of which he’d never been allowed into before. Ready, to take the enhanced version of potions that Bad had given him, all for Tubbo’s arrival which would be about…

  
  
  
…  **_N O W_ ** .


	36. Ears sing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bye everyone! I’m leaving for my eight day camping trip! I’ve also been having fun on Discord as Katanaaa so if you see me than hi (:

Four days until the meeting.

Tubbo knew exactly what his plans were for today, and knew that it certainly would be an unforgiving temperature outside in the snow.

Shadow didn’t seem to need to hibernate. Of which was definitely fortunate due to how much she helped his mental state.

He’d never been particularly susceptible to temperature changes, however seeing as it was a time when his pet bees were asleep and very vulnerable Tubbo much rathered Springtime or Summer.

Spots of snow gathered on the pristine lawns outside of the Badlands. Animal corpses long gone.

“Oh, hey Tubbo!”

BadBoyHalo himself stood there, right before his eyes.

The man was very figity and bounced around on his feet a lot. Something that could have been attributed to the frigid air, but one could never assume.

“Thank you so much for coming today. Would you mind if we went inside? It’s really cold out here.”

The two of them walked inside. Tubbo speaking as they walked.

“T-thank you for letting me c-come over today! You must b-be busy and all with t-the meeting prep and I-I’ve just intruded into your space, s-sorry…”

Bad shook his hands non-threateningly, before he opened the door for Tubbo to walk in through.

“No no no! I’m just happy to spend some time with you! I doubted you’d like to spend your whole day off over in Manberg… seriously, I can’t believe Schlatt would be such a muffin head!”

The older man shut the door with a frown on his face, cheeks almost puffed out comically.

“I mean, on the meeting day I’m going to have some strong words for him. If I say it infront of everyone then I’m  _ sure _ that will force him into letting you join us over in the Badlands!”

Had he ever agreed to join them?

“I’m sure you’d have a blast with us! No more fighting for  _ that _ matter. I’m also glad that you don’t swear very often! I, personally, think that that’s a great trait to have!”

Tubbo absent mindedly rubbed at the burn scar on his neck. Bad was exhibiting signs of anxiety and distress, his brain that had immediately turned to analysing any habits it could, kindly supplied.

The air was tense but warm from a fireplace that blazed next door to him as he still stood instead of taking a seat.

Once again, the older man kept rambling on about the difference he would make. Shadow was still pleasantly snug within his fluffy hoodie which hung loosely over a half starved frame.

“Oh! And since you’ll be staying with us for a while afterwards, I should show you a round while I can!”

Something flickered at the edges of his vision.

Instantly, Tubbo fully concentrated on what was centered over the slightly green tinged shadow, of which had made itself known to the world.

Thankfully at least, Bad was facing the other way.

So when the shadow revealed the many teeth in its hold, they weren’t spotted.

Tubbo managed to keep his face completely clean of any shock from the quite strange discovery.

They were obviously human teeth, as he could tell from his time of seeing bloodily molars trailing over the battlefield at any given time, but there was also something… unnatural to them.

Definitely from a hybrid’s mouth then, but hybrid of what?

They’d been cleaned so well that the pure white gleam they gave off was almost polished. Not a single trace of dirt or blood could be seen from his distance, so it was likely that they had been cleaned while outside of the mouth.

“C-could I… please s-speak to Niki?”

Bad froze in his tracks. Then spun slowly to face Tubbo of whom was staring straight down at the floor in fear of his still unhindered shadow being spotted.

Why had he asked that?

Internally, his mind yelled from two different angles and points of view.

There had been absolutely  _ no _ reason to bring her up! This was a stupid desicion for him to have made.

“What… what do you mean, Tubbo?”

You know what?

Tubbo internally swallowed before letting out a slight sigh.

He was going to stick to his guns and any advantage possible.

“C-could I-I please talk to Niki first? I’ve r-really missed seeing her a-and I though-”

“Oh my goodness I’m so sorry Tubbo!”

All of a sudden, Bad’s face changed to being a caring and empathetic look.

“I never ended up showing you our project! I definitely trust you enough to reveal this, but practically all of us in the Badlands were working on a redstone project, where Niki is right now! You do still love redstone! Right?”

Tubbo almost had whiplash from just how quickly the mood had changed. Finally, the shadow holding teeth disappeared with a flash of movement. He lived with the knowledge that it would likely stay around him. Waiting.

“I do love redstone!”

There wasn’t any point in faking the stutter for a sentence like that.

Bad had noticed that lack of one obviously, and gave a little victorious grin.

“Sorry to make you walk back out in the snow again, but the machines are just in a cave close by! AntFrost and Skeppy are also working with her at the moment since AweSamDude moved out.”

Suddenly Bad had practically dragged Tubbo back over to the door and flung it open. Shadow, nuzzling right into the warmest part of his neck and hoodie which tickled, just a bit.

“I-I’d thought Skeppy was m-missing?”

It was true.

Skeppy hadn’t been seen by other for such a long time they’d just believed that he had traveled somewhere else, far away.

It was obvious, though, that by no means Niki was actually in there while breathing.

Something about the teeth still tingled at the back of his mind. They’d been quiet flat suggesting maybe a herbivorous diet  _ so why did that feel right either _ ?

Shadows gathered inside of his hoodie. Ready to be a last minute protection from any sort of lethal attack.

The two had just now reached a caves mouth.

“Come on in, Tubbo!”

Bad looked energetic, but anxious. Would this be a simple attack or full out attempt on his life?

“It’s just past these red vines over here and-”

Tubbo walked through the vines in question, only to see a cave from his very own dreams.

On a single lectern a book lay open right in the middle of everything.

A waterfall gushed out some kind of reddish gloop which would then flow around some kind of orbish and pulsating structure to the side.

That god forsaken blue tinged chandelier gleamed it’s awful light over them, a shine that defied all laws of comfort or reason.

Shadow woke up from underneath his collar. Her genial vibrations beginning to peak and get stronger before.

The sound of a crossbow being set up and ready to shoot alerted him to turn around-

Bad faced him, with an anguished look stemming with his eyes. The crossbow being aimed directly at Tubbo’s very own heart.

The demonic looking man gave a saddened smile.

“I’m so sorry about this… Tubbo.”


	37. Lonely Adult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I AM ACTUALLY ALIVE! I was shocked to come back only to find that I’d gotten REAL fanart of this book on our Discord server.

It was funny just how Tubbo would notice the little things from the corner of his eyes.

The blood red waterfall flowed silently, almost falling in slow motion, before it would unnaturally bend and rise around random fissures in the walls.

A single drip of water falling from the roof.

The green shadow which had melted down into the darkest areas it could, unable to blend in.

All of these distractions still weren’t enough for the crossbow to fade from his vision.

Nor would it be easy to pull his eyes away from the distant expression that BadBoyHalo was directing to him at that point in time.

Time felt as if it stood at a stand still, while the very same type of weapon that had killed him before pointed at Tubbo’s chest.

Oh. That was an arrow that had been enchanted with harming.

“B-B-Bad?”

The shaking voice that rang from his very throat wasn’t faked.

Tubbo had expected this!

The  **s o m e t h i n g** said that before his death it would visit him in his dreams!

Did something go wrong along the way?

Had he…

… messed it all up again?

“T-this doesn’t… l-look l-l-like  _ redstone  _ B-Bad.”

The shadows underneath his shirt coiled around Tubbo’s scarred body, preparing to both protect and attack along with the now aggravated bee circling his collar on weary legs from the cold weather.

BadBoyHalo smiled  _ he f*cking grinned _ at him in a patronising manner.

Bloody hell he wished that his mind wasn’t scarred like his body, but actions spoke louder than words, right?!

“I really am sorry about this Tubbo. I didn’t lie about the redstone project though!”

He took a step back from his captor.

The lime tinged shadow once again signaled to Tubbo from within the boundaries of his view.

Was it warning him about something? Should he just f*cking  _ release _ the shadows at Bad right this second and would it even work?!

“Sorry, but could you please stand over by the lectern? I don’t actually want to hurt you.”

Somehow, he doubted that.

“I-is this a-a-all one o-of your p-pranks?!”

Tubbo’s mind was slowly becoming clearer. He had a power that could defeat practically any foe in the right circumstances.

  
  
  


**_Fear of you will power the shadows. Make sure to cause an unforgettable show!_ **

  
  
  


The real stutter was slowly fading away, but the paranoia did not.

If a fatal mistake were made then Tubbo would likely suffer a fate that was even worse than death.

He would get through this. A gulp slid down his throat while walking over to the open but indecipherable book lying open in front of him.

Bad’s voice practically stung him from behind.

“This isn’t any prank, Tubbo. Don’t read the book! I just want you standing out behind it!”

He settled into his very tense position behind the lectern. Shadow in all of her glory snuggling underneath his chin in a sign of comfort.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake from below him. It was a pure miracle that Tubbo hadn’t lost his footing, because it seemed as if some redstone contraption had transferred him into some kind of pit.

Unable to help himself, Tubbo spun around to look over his new surroundings while holding a panicked expression.

It was only a five by by pit that surrounded him. Completely made from obsidian and being only three blocks deep from where he’d previously stood.

“W-what?!”

The yelp escaped from his lips when he realised that both Bad and that godforsaken chandelier looked down onto him judgingly.

Bad shook his head in frustration at something only he could see.

Before those cold, cold, eyes once filled with warmth lowered back down onto him, unmatching for the rest of his face.

“This must be very startling for you, being betrayed I mean.”

What. Betrayal?

Tubbo flinched back at the words. Bad leaning over the lectern in a way that made his constantly worn cloak dangle temptingly, as if he should pull it and bring the older man down there with him.

That was a good plan.

Betrayal however was a word he was all too familiar with.

The way that Bad had brought it up though? That was the whole concerning part about it.

“Oh yeah! You don’t know about what happened at the festival, right? Technoblade really did kill you at Schlatt’s orders.”

A shiver ran down his spine when Bad continued.

“And I also saw both Tommy and Wilbur watching the whole thing and not help in the slightest!”

Tubbo faked a fall to scramble away from the man. Pulling the most shocked and, admittedly slightly real, panicked expression possible.

Yeah. Things were coming in clarity now.

BadBoyHalo obviously had some really horrible things planned out for him.

“T-Tommy w-wouldn’t do that!

The yell came out in desperation as Tubbo’s eyes widened in fear.

Bad just gave out a solid smirk as his eyes shut when he shook his head once again.

“You don’t have to believe me, I have put you in this situation after all, but doesn’t it make complete  _ sense _ ?! I mean, why would I need to lie?!”

The taller man spread out his arms at that before grabbing the book in a vice like grip as Tubbo made tears drip from his eyes.

A green blur flashed up and above the chadaler before ceasing to jump past the other side.

Was it lying in wait? So many things were just confusing.

“Why a-are you e-e-even  _ doing _ this?!”

Bad stopped for a second. A maniacal look that had begun to form on top of his face suddenly fading into a sadness of sorts.

“It… well, it’s probably not easy to understand.”

The sadness only grew, while Tubbo didn’t hold a single shred of empathy for whatever was causing this feeling.

He did have to keep up this whole persona, though.

“W-what are you e-even  _ going  _ t-to do to me?! What did I-I-I  _ do _ that hurt y-you?!”

This one… he really did want to know.

Maybe it was his sincerity that touched a remaining warm spot in Bad’s chest, or perhaps it was just the urge for him to spill his plans that made him answer.

A smile once again rose to the mans face with barely few hints of the former sadness that had plagued his eyes,

“I’m going to create a real Demon, Tubbo.”


	38. It was all your fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I JUST GOT MORE FANART ON THE DISCORD SERVER AND AM GETTING THEORIES?!
> 
> Welp. Feast on this chapter then, I’ve been waiting to get up to this point.

_ “Hey, Bad!” _

_ The man in question turned around only to get slammed into by his very best friend. _

_ “You’re too heavy, Skeppy. Get off!” _

_ Despite the words, the both of them were laughing. After all, it was a very special occasion. _

_ Flowers bloomed around them before the two lay down next to each other in the grass. Giggling to some joke only they knew. _

_ Because that was just how it always was. _

_ BadBoyHalo, and Skeppy. Inseparable ever since the days they’d met. _

_ Since the vow they’d made to each other in their very special cave before it’d been properly decorated. _

_ A crunching noise perpetrated his eardrums causing Bad to sigh in disappointment, having known about his friend's diet of precious gemstones for a long time. _

_ But diamonds?! That was practically cannibalism! _

_ “I still don’t understand why you DO that Skeppy! It’s bad for your teeth!” _

_ “But Baddd. I’m completely  _ made _ from diamonds! And, it tastes good too!” _

_ He fake scoffed at his friends' antics, rolling away from Skeppy on the grass.” _

_ More giggles erupted from the two of them. _

_ Once they’d finally quietened down, neither spoke. Choosing to instead look up to the fairly cloudy sky and a butterfly that fluttered neatly around some kind of purple flower. _

_ Bad had never bothered learning what their names were, or meanings. _

_ However, these times with Skeppy? They were simply irreplaceable. _

_ Anything for him. Absolutely any deed for Skeppy to have a future together alongside Bad. _

_ Together forever. _

—————

Tubbo froze in his tracks, blood suddenly becoming frozen stiff.

What had Bad just said?

Tremble,  _ real trembles _ , began to cover his body as the world ceased to revolve.

Bad just said he would make a demon.

“Ah!”

Shaky eyes looked back up to where the voice had come from, only for Tubbo to realise that Bad had walked out of his vision and was behind the obsidian and obscured from his view.

“Sorry, I guess this wouldn’t really be making much sense for you! Do you mind if I explain it a bit? That’ll make it a lot easier for me in the long run.”

Wait. But Bad hadn’t said anything about  _ him _ being a demon. Only that he was going to make one.

Was this some kind of messed up coincidence concerning his life?

“A-a  _ w-what _ ?!”

The words tumbled out from Tubbo as an attempt to slow his racing heartbeat and gain more time to stall.

The sound of old papers flipping assaulted his ears as Bad did  _ something _ .

“Well, a fair few years ago, me and Skeppy were together in  _ this very cave _ when we found something really cool underneath!”

Tubbo had to listen. Was he in danger of having someone know his true identity, and how did Bad even know about what a demon  _ was _ ?

Discreetly, Tubbo shifted into a crouched position. Ready to fight if need be.

“It was what we thought used to be a library!”

The sound of something large whacking into what he could only presume was the gloop made Tubbo flinch.

Anticipation calmed him. Instincts coming in to protect himself from what trouble that might need to be faced at any point in time.

Bad just continued with his monologue.

“The whole thing was really burnt, there wasn’t a single safe tome we could find that wasn’t practically a crisp! Skeppy and I then saw it all collapse, showing us this book that was hidden  _ inside _ one of the walls!”

His voice. It just sounded almost…  _ excited _ .

Another heavy whack came from where the red gloop had been falling.

This whole scenario just  _ screamed  _ wrong.

“It was a tinsy bit rotted, and it wasn't written in English either, but after translation we realised we’d found the only book explaining about Demons that had survived whatever burnt down that ginormous place!”

Everything was setting Tubbo’s nerves on end!

The shadows were angry for him, that much he knew at least.

Even Shadow herself was trying to wake herself to protect him!

Every single time she’d pop her head out from his collar, Tubbo would gently nudge her back in.

Unwilling to lose his only friend.

Meanwhile that  _ gloop _ y area was  _ still _ being walked on!

Every heavy, thumping, step sent a chill down Tubbo’s spine for a reason that he just couldn’t express!

Bad not seeming to have realised he was actually a Demon was the only good thing that had arrived from the whole situation.

But that still left the question, just what were the plans for him in this small, obsidian, hole?!

“W-w-what’s a d-demon?”

He stuttered out the questioning sentence to the older man before getting a reply straight away.

“Well! A Demon’s main describing point is that it is the only being other a God that can, well,  _ kill _ a God!”

That had been what the  **s o m e t h i n g** had said to him before.

But Tubbo still didn’t really know much about what a God  _ was _ .

“A-a  _ God _ ?!”

It sounded sufficiently surprised that Bad no doubtedly believed him.

“Yeah! I only know a few things about them from this book, but they have the job of looking at different universes and can choose a champion once every century. Apparently though, it’ll take away a bit of the champions humanity. But I’m getting off topic here!”

Tubbo finally realised too late what the thumping had been from around the gloop.

The lectern when Bad was standing faced a different direction, so there was  _ something else in the room _ .

“Anyways!”

Suddenly, a crash came from the other creatures body which was still hidden outside of his view.

Bad carried on speaking, likely knowing that Tubbo would be feeling indescribable fear in that moment.

“A Demon can only be summoned by betrayal. Some of the words in this part are smudged so it took me and Skeppy a while to figure out just what it was saying, but we learnt a few months ago that betrayal will make a Demon even stronger.”

The green shadow still hid on top of the chandelier. Some kind of noise coming from whatever it was doing.

“A Demon has some really strong powers we need, I really hope you’ll be able to forgive me for this in the afterlife, Tubbo, but I’ll do anything for Skeppy.”

A shriek made it’s way from his throat as the other living person in the room jumped and landed inside of the shallow pit with him.

It was AntFrost.

But it wasn’t AntFrost.

Ant had never had red and oozing sores bursting from every conceivable point on his body.

Neither was he as hunched over, and tall.

The red shone and let out bubbles in the same way a potions effect would.

Tubbo was seriously horrified.

“I-I’m so  _ so  _ sorry for this, Tubbo.”

Bad sounded as if he were near tears. As if doing this from his own volition wasn't the plan and  _ he  _ was the real victim.

Even after somehow turning his own friend into a monster, Bad still maintained a strong feeling of righteousness.

The shadows were his greatest defence and offence.

Only a small dagger was on his person, and as Tubbo looked to the bubbling goliath in front of him, he highly doubted that it would help much.

“L-LET ME O-OUT!”

F*ck. Could he actually take this thing?!

Might as well try the best he could, or hell would be a better place than where he’d be sent too.

At the sound of Bad sniffling on top of him, and grunts a monster in front of him, Tubbo prepared his weapon and shadows.

The creature of which had used to be AntFrost charged at him, the shadows popped out from underneath his coat to help before-

_ SCHHHHHHHHLUK! _

The chandelier above him was unscrewed and fell down directly heading towards Ant.

Tubbo was vaguely aware as BadBoyHalo gasped and then jumped into his line of sight to try and save it just as-

_ CREASSSSSHCK _ !

Ant was decimated in a shower of gore as his head and upper body was crushed.

Bad was screaming and Tubbo vaguely realised that this had technically been the first ever death he’d seen other than his own.

“No! Skeppy! What did you just  _ DO _ ?!”

Skeppy?!

Tubbo looked around and suddenly Bad had pulled the lever for the platform to rise up again. While calling Ant by the wrong name?!

The lime tinged shadow leapt out at him, having just unscrewed the lighting source to save his life, and gestured exuberantly over at the middle of the entire structure.

Bad was still crying out for his best friend, not even noticing how shadows spun around him in a menacing spiral.

Then, something caught his eyes from the chandeliers centre.

Something _ blue _ caught his eyes from the chandeliers centre.

Before Bad could stop him, Tubbo pulled himself over to see the full thing that was there only to find-

Oh. Those were diamonds.  _ Pure _ diamonds.

But ever since the near extinction of the ore golems only one known diamond hybrid was living.

Or at least, Skeppy had definitely been dead for months now.


	39. It’s you I scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this at the orthodontists thug life.

" **̶̞͇͐̂̇̐͌B̷͇̰̝̈́ą̶̨̲̰͚̱͉̌͑̅́̒̎͗͌d̸͓͚̦̮̍͝,̸̢̠̜̭̜̣̤͉̯̱̐̔͛͝ ̶̧̝̄̓̈́͠c̴̢̡̲̜̣̼͎͒̌̅̆́̎͠a̷̛̹̲͕̫̫̒n̸̨̞̺̮̗̳̱̈ ̴̯̦̟̗̮̟͖͚̌̍̈͂̈́͋̀͘͠y̴͕͚̹̌͑͑̎́̈́̿͐̓͠ǫ̶͉͙͈͓̹̱͖̍̌͗̈́̄͌̎̾͜ͅu̶̯̱̜̭̤̬͊͋̓ ̶̥̺̫̥́̀̎̓̅͋̊̚͘͠p̸̡̣̳̼̰̳͎̩̹̍͛͛̽̒̆́͛͘͠r̸͍̹̥̥̬̘̗͕̠͊́̈́̏́̽̿͝o̸̡̨̗̯͖̰̜̖̰̍̋̈́̇̒̐͝m̴̢̳̥̖̠̯͉̱̟̾̓̓̂̾̽̽͋͆̏i̶̛̠͙͎̳̭̐̽̈́͜͝͝s̷͖̩͓͎̈ẻ̷̡̢̛̬͖̔́̍ ̴̞͍̙̍m̶̜͎̝͛̐̐̔̕ë̵̖̖͙̹̬͓̼́͜ ̸̘̖̐̄̅̿͑̉̋̑͠ś̶͉̖͙̩̄̉̾̊̈́̑͂͘o̵̯̠̰͈͒̓͝͠ḿ̵̮̻͇̗̬̟̕e̶̱̩͊̈́͛̏̎͘̕ẗ̶̲̣͖́́̈́̌h̸̞̜̘͎̫̫̆̈̀̂̚i̵̗̫̘͍̼̟͖̽n̵̜̝̲͇̯̘̯̱̜̳̄͗̈́̾̀̋̂͐̒g̸͓̘̱̙͗ͅ?̸̡̨̖̱̀̀̇͆̾̌̑̇͝"̵̨̬̙̦̝̹̳͔́́͌̒̚**

  
  
  


**̶̡̘͇̥̙̰̙͈̽̈́̈́̾̈̀̉̄͜͜͠"̶͉̉́͋͛͗L̵̢̪̜̰̭̑́̑̅̌͑͑̃͘͘ͅë̸̡͕̘̬̘̟̜͖̩́̍͂̉̀́̈̄̕ţ̴͎͔̞͔̜̙̜̰͋̾̏̈́͗̈́̿͘͜͝'̷̨̻̱̤̻̳͎̻̍̔̈͑̿̄̆ͅs̸̨̛͇̤̲͕̹̭͋́̾͒͘̕ ̷̡̮̮͈̯̪̼̪͓̓͆̀̊̋̊̇͑̉̕͜d̸͍̺͚̣̠̝͙͊̈́̽̐ͅo̵̧̡̯̻͚͔͎͔̜͍͌͋̌͛̍̄ ̵̩͇̟̝̗̽t̵̨͓̭̩̏͐h̶̛͔̮́͑̔͑͋͛̎̈ì̷̳̫̭͙̝̖͉ş̵͓̰̲͇͕̖͔̻̙͊́̄̐̓̆̕ ̴̻̄ẗ̸͓̳̠̩̖́̉͂̄̏͐̂̊̍͝o̶͈͍͚̥̬͆̋̏͆̀͜g̵̡̯̼̮̝̃͑͒̌̚̕͘͝ͅe̴̙̣̣̤̍͂̒̓̋̕̚͝t̷̠̩͎͋̄ḧ̸̞͖̲͇̳̩́̔̑ę̷̬̰͍͋r̶̞̮̭̹̟̗̞̭̬̘͑͂̓̊!̵̜͔̘̱͇̩̼̎̂͒͑̓̐͂"̷̮̤̩̤̙͉̅ͅ**

  
  
  


**_̷̲̀͌̆̋ä̶̟͍́̽̂͑̚͠ř̵̖͇̞̬͜ȇ̷̛̗̜̖͈͉̦̚_ ** **̴̡͎̹̬͎̮̼̫̋͆̐̕͘͝m̸͙̱̻̝͗y̵̧̖͖̹̭̟̮̪͈̆̈́̀̉̎ ̶̰̩͙̃͗͐̀̎͘͝b̶̻̳̫͚͖̟̔ẻ̶͎̪͉̭͇̩̂́̈́s̶̡̟̙̣͕͕̥̣̜̋̂̈́̒̐̽̔͘ţ̷̱͔̥̘̪̝̓̄͌̽̄̑̌̂̉͘ ̴͖͉͓̭̍̎̉̏͌f̸̰̼̬͆ŕ̶̞͍͚̯̫͖̺̬͈̎̈́̑̀͑͜i̴̧̤̙̬̲͙͛̽ȅ̶̯̙̟͉̦̔́͒̚ͅn̶̨͈̗͈̘̮̉̏́̈́̏̀̕d̴͚̯̦͚̻͗́͒,̷͈͛́͠ ̴̧̛̛͈̥̹̫̬̹͕̯̽͛̓͆͜r̶̻̚ǐ̸͖̰͑̀͆g̴̳̮̳͓̜̔̌̂̀͋́͜͝h̶̨͕̞̻͒͋̽t̶̢̰̥̭̲̮̫͎̭̋̾͘ͅ?̸̤͉̱̲̯͗̄̑́͌͒́ ̴̻͎̳̱̯͖̳͇̬̈́̄Ş̸͕͖̱̤̮͊̃̓̋͝o̵̐̏͆̈́͌̎͗ͅ ̷̧̯͉̇̏l̴̡͖͍̖͔͐̚̚e̸̡̛̲̯̥̖͈̝͊̉̉̇͒͝t̸̤̫̪̤̠̺̭̬̆̋̇̈́́̕̕͝ͅ’̷̢͕͎͓͎̳̏̀s̶͇͖̫̈́́̊̿̓̆̔̑͗͠ ̸̧̧̢̼̣̼͈̖̠̠̂̐ģ̵̙̮̰͇̠͇̞͍̮͋̄̇̍e̴̢̨̘̘̠͈̲̤̩̯̽̋͝t̴͖͈͎̙̼͕̮͇͐̑́̃̂̀̉͛̔̕ ̵̧͉̮̬̞̱̳̙̯̠̍̈́̄̾s̸̨̺̤̺͚͖̈́̀̓t̵̨͔̜̼͖̯͔́̅́a̴̡̬̖̼̦̼͑̊̋̀͜r̷̰̪̹̥̻̣̯̐́͆͂̊̅̕͠t̵̨̝̟̮̠̙͙̥̻̠̑ȩ̶́̑͝ḑ̶̢͓͇̺̞̗̆̀͝ͅ ̶͓̑̀̔̓̅̒ő̶̲̐̓n̴̠͍̬͕̞̜̍̃̂̅̒̀̈́͛͋̚ ̸̭̭͈͉͑͗͠i̵̠̜͉̩̲͛̾̔̉̐̾͛̚ţ̴͇͚̪̠̫̝͠ͅ.̸̧̭̣͙͕̞̳̠̌̍̄͠͝͠ͅ"̶̘͈̝̰͉̮̬͌͒̍̓**

  
  
  


—————

“SKEPPY! SKEPPY, ARE YOU OKAY?!”

BadBoyHalo pushed Tubbo away from the chandelier to grasp at his  _ long _ dead friend.

What the actual  _ f*ck _ ?!

Tubbo brain worked a mile a minute to try and comprehend just what had happened here!

Firstly, he’d been lured over and into Bad’s secret cave with gravity defying gloop.

_ Secondly _ , Bad had started to f*cking explain to HIM of all people, just what a Demon really was.

THIRDLY, AntFrost turned into some kind of steroided up fighter.

Before to top it all off, a motherf*cking lighting arrangement filled with Skeppy’s dead body fell down and crushed the guy’s head open.

What the total and god given F*CK had this day been.

Bad dragged out the diamonds, which gave off a glow of their natural blue colour, and held them close to his chest.

Now that they’d been dragged out, Tubbo could clearly spot that they’d used to belong to a body.

The head was fully intact, and was the main body part in the crying Bad’s arms. However, instead of there being eyes or teeth or even  _ any _ non diamond appendage he could remember on the hybrid, there was nothing.

Tubbo gulped as the dawning horror of how Skeppy’s teeth were very flat to be able to bite into whatever gems he ate. Also, the missing places where they’d been looked as if the body parts had been expertly removed.

Meanwhile, the chest had a single sword stab wound coming from behind. Likely having been the injury that killed Skeppy.

Tubbo didn’t move from where he stood, even when Bad abruptly stood up and  _ glared  _ right at him.

“How COULD you?! Tubbo, you just… just… HURT Skeppy!”

_ Hurt _ Skeppy?!

He was dead. A long gone corpse with ANOTHER body underneath it that was being ignored.

“Bad. What did you  _ do _ ?”

The stutter was forgotten, as static pulses echoed in Tubbo’s ears.

His green tinged shadow made no effort to hide itself. This leading a few of his less sentient shadows to also appear close around him.

Or at least, Tubbo  _ presumed _ that the lime looking shadow had a mind of its own.

Shadow, the bee now this time, stubbornly crawled out to stand on his shoulder. Refusing every and all gentle attempts he made to nudge her back into a warm and cozy spot.

Bad didn’t notice a single thing concerning his new additions, seemingly too angry to even study Tubbo closely.

“I didn’t even do anything! You just sent Skeppy  _ falling _ down to the ground and onto-”

“What did you do to Ant?”

Then, there wasn’t even a hint of hesitation before Bad replied back.

“I made a new strength potion recipe with strider skin instead of nether wart!”

New enchantment and potion recipes were  _ illegal _ due to a strain of virus that had come out years ago.

“I told him that you’d be trying to kill me today because of Schlatt ordering you too, and now Skeppy’s even…”

Something within him hated this.

Bad was meant to have been the  _ nice _ one. There were two f*cking dead bodies of his  _ friends _ in front of the guy, and only one was being looked at while thought of in denial.

Yeah. Tubbo really hated this.

Because  _ people didn’t care _ !

BadBoyHalo reminded him of how everyone abandoned him. Betrayal for their own hides, or straight up hero worship translating to  _ violence _ .

You rise up, you get pushed back down. You carve a ladder made with your very own blood and bones, only for your best friend to  _ stab _ you in the back.

A shadow popped and fizzed.

Tubbo was just-

More tendrils of darkness rose to the surface.

Was just-!

Bad stopped his stupid monologue and turned over to face-!

_ WAS JUST-! _

That small little voice inside of his head that whispered for Tubbo to hide, not show any inch of the powers he held, ceased to speak and instead opted to watch.

Shadows peeled up and off of the ground before heading straight at BadBoyHalo.

“WAIT, WHAT’S HAPPENING-?!”

They slammed him down onto the obsidian below Tubbo, who only watched with an unreadable expression.

Bad looked petrified, and that was what did it.

A noticeably  _ huge _ surge of power flowed over him, obviously strengthening his shadows, before the flying directly out at his very shocked victim.

Tubbo then gradually began to walk closer. Dufully noticing with a scorn that Skeppy was still being held tightly against the chest of BadBoyHalo, without a chance of him letting go.

Pieces began to connect. Tubbo  _ wasn’t  _ ever as dumb as people thought he was.

So he leant in close.

“TUBBO WHAT DID YOU JUST-!?!”

This guy. Even after attempting to kill him he was still acting so high and mighty.

A smile rose to Tubbo’s lips, more from the audacity of the whole situation rather than any real humour.

“You  _ killed _ Skeppy. Didn’t you!”

—————

_ “Bad! I found one in the walls!” _

_ “Hurry up Skeppy, this place doesn’t look very stable at all! We can read it once we’re outside!” _

_ The two best friends sat together. Both looking very different than their present state in reality. _

_ “Bad! Look! I always knew the Gods were real!” _

_ “Skeppy, I’m not too sure if we should be reading this. I mean… Demonic energy? There’s no  _ way _ that’s good!” _

_ Bad pushed up his glasses that hadn’t been worn for a long long time now. _

_ “It doesn’t mean we can’t just mess around with it!” _

_ They were the only two who knew just what powers a Demon could hold. _

_ When reading that very book and translating the hidden sections, Bad was not left unscathed. _

_ It changed him. The only possible excuse for him to tell people other than Skeppy being that the genes of his bat hybrid father were making his looks morph. _

_ And Skeppy? _

_ Diamond hunters who had driven the rest of his kind to extinction only became easier to frighten off. _

_ But even with all the knowledge they’d amassed. These two idiots decided to read further! To spend the unknowingly rest of their lives trying to read the final chapter to become a Demon! _

_ Then even DESPITE all that time they spent researching, they switched around a major piece! _

The  **s o m e t h i n g** hoped that these two would get what they deserved.


	40. Stuck deep in a dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take this before I leave on my second eight day camp! This is the end of part one in my book, get ready for part two to come once I get back (: Chapter Forty people!!!

BadBoyHalo was sweating and stared wide eyes up to-

-was that actually Tubbo?

Tubbo had always been a less  _ prominent  _ person in the grand scheme of things. Always being a ‘yes man’ as others called him.

The first time he’d met the kid, Tommy had immediately taken charge. Scripting how their introduction would go, and making jokes his friend would robotically laugh at.

In the times when L’Manberg was new and beginning their war of ‘Independance’, Tubbo was known for being that one kid who brought supplies and sacrificed his entire temple for their side.

For some time, Skeppy was angry at the boy's best friend. Tommy and Tubbo making occasional visits to get some kind of disk back.

Then after the election the kid was on Schlatt’s side.

At that point, Bad was getting  _ desperate  _ for 

No no no how had this all gone so horribly wrong-

Their plan! It was falling to pieces around them! Something was horribly wrong with the kid he’d chosen and now everything might-

  
  


…

  
  


Crumble. It might crumble.

And if it crumbled all down to bits, then  _ Bad _ could crumble all down to bits! Then if he were gone than Skeppy…

Not Skeppy!

Bad pushed with all of his strength against whatever was holding him down. Tubbo was quite literally walking towards him and whatever attack would be made needed to be  _ prepared _ for.

Tubbo walked up close and looked down with a shadowed expression as Bad looked up helplessly.

What was he meant to do here?!

A smile made its way over the younger boys lips, and Bad felt a shiver appear from that. As if it were not an expression any worldly being should ever make, suddenly things started to connect from within his mind.

But what was it, really?!

He leant in close to to the even more struggling now BadBoyHalo who  _ had to get away _ -

“You  _ killed _ Skeppy. Didn’t you!”

—————

_ “Hey, Bad. Would you mind making a promise with me?” _

_ “Sure Skeppy! What is it!” _

_ “Well, one day. When people stop trying to hunt me down, and you find it easy to walk outside during the day, could we stay together?” _

_ “Uh, I don’t really think that I’ll ever find it easier to go outside during daytime, and you’re very cool and valuable to others, so can’t we just stay together now?” _

_ “I think, that one day, the two of us will be able to walk through town and be able o talk to people. So after we do that, will you… stay with me?” _

_ “I’ll stay with you either way, Skeppy!” _

_ “Just, promise me! Will you? It’s really important to me!” _

_ “Oh geez, sorry Skeppy! I promise that I’ll stay with you forever when that day comes, okay?” _

_ “Great!” _

—————

Sweat beaded down Bad’s forehead and the world when deathly still.

Skeppy was the light of his life! A sun to his moon, and bestest friend for eternity!

Also, he lay down right there.

“W-what? Skeppy isn’t…”

He was in a partial shock at the drastic turn in events. Tubbo’s personality had done a complete 180 flip, and Skeppy was  _ right there _ .

Dispute the fall damage, he would be okay. Iron golems were known for being the best with fall damage, but a diamond ore hybrid? They still could survive great falls, and the chandelier hadn’t even fallen down that far!

Skeppy was completely okay other than the fact that he had fallen onto an oddly bumpy surface and was normal-

“Bad, don’t F*CKING play with me!”

The evil smile disappeared for an angry snarl. Suddenly Bad was shoved even harder onto the ground, losing his breath and making his teeth bash against each other painfully.

“Look at his FACE!”

Tubbo jabbed his finger out to point where Bad reluctantly looked to see  _ nothing was wrong with his friend _ !

The kid was yelling at him. Somehow the, chains? Whatever they were, were actually moving as if they were alive.

Was this what a blessing was?

  
  


…

  
  


Definitely not.

“You people ALWAYS do this! You f*cking take and kill whoever you  _ please _ , and it make me so f*cking sick!”

Was all of this… a hallucination?

Bad lay with his head facing his very best friend of who still hadn’t moved to get awa from whatever crazy episode Tubbo was going through.

—————

_ It was when Skeppy read something out from the book that his body began to change. _

_ The morph hurt him so much and was the most painful thing that Bad had ever gone through, as it changed his body into something less than worldly. _

_ Skeppy took one look at him, and gleefully stated _

_ “Now you can go outside! See? I told you the promise was achievable! Only one half left now!” _

_ Bad had smiled at the words, hiding his pain. _

_ Anything for Skeppy to be happy, and if that thing were him then that was best. _

—————

“LOOK WHAT YOU DID!”

Tubbo roared at him. He was just so obviously angry and nothing was adding up right-

Skeppy. Skeppy was safe.

A peaceful and calm grin came over his face.

Because his friend was safe.

—————

_ Skeppy had been acting strangely since they’d started transcribing the new and last chapter left in the book. _

_ It seemed almost as if his friend was becoming more edge than soft, spend less and less time around him. _

_ But it was Skeppy’s decision to make. _

_ Finally, one evening, Skeppy had ran into their cottage outside of the cave and proclaimed he’d found a way to fix all of their problems. _

_ “The way to become a Demon was the betrayal it said at the begining! To become one,  _ **_you have to kill everyone who cares about you_ ** _.” _

_ The glint in his friends eyes was not there when they’d first met. _

_ But Bad was loyal, and was able to stand beside the one who’d done the same for him, no matter how he’d changed. _

—————

“WHY DO YOU ALL MURDER THE PEOPLE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO CARE FOR?!”

—————

_ Less and less people were coming to take Skeppy away from him, and now they could walk in a few places. _

_ He’d gotten a bit to carried away once Dream had been questioned, wanting to know if the man knew of how Demons worked with the obvious blessing that had been bestowed upon the man. _

_ Skeppy was getting obsessed with the book. _

_ Every night Bad would enter the cave to find his friend alone reading. So just like any other friend would deliver food and a blanket to make sure he’d be well cared for no matter the trail. _

_ Soon, red matter became to corrupt their home. _

_ It was all a by product of the book, and it intranced him. _

_ Skeppy liked it too, and even AntFrost who’d found some tendrils peaking out was becoming completely under the control of the cave. _

_ Then, from the changes to his body and Skeppy’s old experiments, Bad himself. _

_ He’d been given a weak dose of Demonic Energy, which had changed his body into that of which was easier to manage. _

_ Skeppy had randomly read a spell out to him, and didn’t even notice the pain it gave. _

_ But that was fine! Skeppy didn’t need to have a reason, because  _ **_th_ ** _ ey w _ **_e_ ** _ r _ **_e b_ ** _ e _ **_st f_ ** _ ri _ **_en_ ** _ ds. _

—————

“THIS PLACE IS JUST SO F*CKED UP IN THE HEAD, AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU’RE-”

—————

_ Skeppy knew that if he wanted to become a Demon, then Bad would have to go. _

—————

“-JUST ANOTHER-”

—————

_ The book wasn’t wrong, he couldn’t have messed up the translation, Bad trusted him and did whatever he said. _

—————

“-F*CKING-”

—————

_ He had his sword this would work- _

—————

“-MURDERER!”

—————

_ Silence filled the cave, and BadBoyHalo couldn’t help but stare at his friend who lay dead. _

_ Skeppy had given him so many signals to fight for his own life, and that he wanted a Demon. _

_ And his friend would never willing harm him! _

_ But, Skeppy’s very own diamond sword had pierced through his chest, after having been pushed back by Bad himself. _

_ Pushed back, killing him. _

—————

Bad’s eyes widened instantly, and the man began thrashing from underneath whatever was holding him down.

“Let GO of me! Ant, Ant, help me!”

The person in question shifted from underneath the chandelier of which had previously held Skeppy.

Tubbo swore and pulled back, before sending  _ something _ after the man which loosened whatever was still holding Bad down.

He took stock of that opportunity to kick through the, muscly? Material and get out, ready to fight for his life.

But first, Skeppy.

He pulled his friend's prone body up and hugged it close to his chest, snarling.

Was Tubbo trying to take him away? He wouldn’t  _ let  _ him!

But the kid, who’d done a complete flip of his previously cautious and stuttering speech, stared down the now mindless AntFrost.

“Bad, are you being serious, here?”

Tubbo spun his head over, and in that second Bad saw sadness. He’d always been skilled at spotting emotions one hid deep below the surface, and beyond the very potent anger was distress.

All of a sudden, a spike ran through the charging Ant, who stood still for a second, before falling to the ground obviously dead.

Bad couldn’t believe it.

What was…

He started shaking, and tears began to form in the older man’s eyes.

What was happening?!

As Ant fell to the ground, Tubbo then looked back over to him. Glaring in a way which sent shivers down Bad’s spine.

“You f*cked up, thinking that I’d be easy prey.”

The boy began stalking over to him,  _ to Skeppy _ , and Bad moved back instantly, protecting his best friend from harm's way.

“S-stay away from us!”

Tubbo sighed, shaking his head off to the left at what looked to be an unseen person.

“Bad. When will you  _ realise _ ?!”

He walked forwards, closer and closer before Bad had been trapped aga8ns the wall _ nowhere to run fro _ -

“Bad. You killed your best friend!”

A spike of what he could now identify as Shadows erupted from the ground, pulling him under.

As Bad struggled against it and the absolute fear coursing through his system those dots connected entirely.

Tubbo was using Demonic Energy.

Only Demons could use Demonic Energy.

But, Tommy was still alive to his knowledge. In fact, everyone he  _ knew _ of that the kid cared for was still alive so that meant-

That meant that they’d been  _ wrong _ .

The descent through the floor left him scraped, bruised and tearing, as well as looking up to a smug feeling green shadow which joined the other in bring him down.

Bad looked up at the rumbling roof of the cavern, burnt books all around him, and Skeppy’s  _ corpse _ in his arms.

“F*ck.”

The cave system of a library collapsed onto Bad. Leaving two bodies to be trapped together, forever.


	41. With death we must wait in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Two's beginning :)
> 
> Also this is being posted on my first day of High School so fun. Sorry for this being fairly short but next chapter is kind of long!

T H R E E D A Y S R E M A I N I N G . . .

  
  
  
  
  


. . . U N T I L T H E N . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . W E M U S T P E R S I S T T H R O U G H T H E P A I N . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . T H E D E A D W A T C H A S Y O U L A M E N T . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . W E A R E S O R R Y C H I L D , F O R M I S F O R T U N E F O L L O W S Y O U R K I N D . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . T H E K I N D . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


. . . D O N T B E M A N I P U L A T E D L I K E O N C E B E F O R E . . .

  
  
  
  
  
  


— B E T H E O N E I N C O N T R O L —


	42. A part of us all

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that school's started I think I might update every second day now. Hope you enjoy this chapter! This book will be finished no matter what.

Maybe it was because of this insufferable winter, that made Schlatt’s liquor taste worse.

Or perhaps it was the sound of diggers excavating the area around the White House of which he spent his nights, waking him from a peaceful rest, that did it.

There were many other options which held the same allure to his mind when trying to figure out just how cursed the goat hybrid was. A rat of which had scuttled past him, probably after stealing some important papers. The fact that his drawer didn’t shut correctly.

The Badlands going completely silent while negotiations were at an all time high.

Yeah, that was definitely annoying.

Schlatt let out an agitated huff once seeing his next paper of which hadn’t been sorted out by Tubbo because of his ‘break’.

F*cking dimwit. Despite having the day off and not skipping, it just left a bad impression in his mind.

He scowled and read down the paper with growing disbelief before pounding his head onto the desk.

This day just couldn’t get any better!

Now even motherf*cking Dream was looking down on him, and asking for materials for some kind of project, as if  _ he  _ were a f*cking pet!

“Hey, woah woah WOAH! Fundy! What the f*ck are you doing?!”

Sh*t. Today was likely going to get a hell of a lot worse.

Schlatt managed his face into one of which he hoped looked bored, just before his door was practically kicked open by the force of which Fundy used to push his way past the unusually tired Quackity who tried to stop him.

They both froze when they made eye contact with their boss. Obvious fear showed from the two of them, before Quackity immediately untangled from his hold on the fox hybrid, who seemed as if he were about to burst out crying.

Schlatt guessed that the bored face hadn’t worked, and his anger at being visited and the general day was definitely showing.

To hell with it.

Forcing a grimace and reaching for his cup with slightly off alcohol, Schlatt spoke.

“So. What event was just  _ soooo _ important, that you needed to bother me?”

Fundy flinched back, seemingly gathering himself before preparing to speak. Only for Quackity to interrupt and justify himself.

“THIS DUDE! He just BURSTS into the office, and then says he has to speak to you! Then he f*cking starts to intrude with saying anything about whatever’s happening and-”

“Hey Quackity, just  _ shut the f*ck up _ .”

Schlatt hissed out at his Vice President who whimpered, just before flinching back to stand rigidly next to Fundy. The kid was shaking and staring down at the floor as if his life were spinning out of control.

The goat-ram cross rubbed at his forehead just below his left horn in exhaustion at his subject's antics.

“Fundy. If you don’t have a f*cking good reason to speak to me, I’m gonna do something I probably  _ shouldn’t  _ do. I’m already pissed off today, so speak.”

A spark of terror shone through the eyes of the admittedly ruffled fox hybrid. But nevertheless, he stepped forwards on shaking legs and began his story.

“I-I visited the B-Badlands, a-and-”

“Jesus CHRIST!”

Fundy flinched back from Schlatt’s outburst, and so did Quackity. Angrilyafter slamming his table the oldest shouted-

“You’re sounding like Tubbo! Just get to your MOTHERF*CKING POINT!”

Closing his eyes from the shear fear that shook his young frame, the kid yelped out

“I found a body!”

The room fell silent and Schlatt slid back into his seat. Minor shock coursing through his system.

That spot by his horn felt itchier than ever.

Carefully, the ram hybrid lent further out from his chair, with hints of disbelief all over his face.

“What do you mean… that you found a body?”

Immediately, his mind went into overdrive.

Quackity looked utterly helpless and confused, probably being unknowing about how they suspected that something highly immoral was going on in the Badlands.

Who had died?

Just how had they died?!

Then maybe the most important of the three questions,  _ why _ had they died?

Fundy was definitely panicked. Fidgeting around on the spot as the one to have found such a sight.

“It was so quiet when I went past, so I decided to take a look! Right? Nobody is around, but that one stone hilly thing had collapsed to reveal this giant room or something with red gloop everywhere and some kind of crimson glass stuff.”

Schlatt’s gaze was fixed on his employee as Fundy grew more and more anxious. Tears gathering in the younger’s eyes.

“Everything had caved in, and there was rubble all over a deeper hole in the ground which I could get a look at because  _ f*cking Ant’s corpse _ was laying over it!”

Quackity let out a sharp gasp from the news. The President himself watched with focused eyes, as the fox hybrid began to actually  _ cry _ .

“So I walk over, and Ant’s body was so f*cked up. All swollen and sh*t, before he just started jerking around and frothing from the mouth! I’d thought there was no way he could have been  _ alive _ because the sheer amount of wounds he had and all the  _ blood _ -”

“Hey kid, you're starting to ramble a bit. Get on with it.”

Schlatt himself was very interested in this turn of events, as well as slightly fearful of what had happened.

“So Ant’s all frothing up and bleeding everywhere, before he points to something after making eye contact with me! His eyes were just so purple there was obviously something very wrong.”

Outside of his window something shrieks. Schlatt just ignores it, in place of what is going on in front of him.

“I go over there to try and get away from whatever’s going on with Ant, and I found  _ f*cking human teeth _ !”

A sob racks through Fundy’s body, probably replaying awful memories inside of his head.

Just whose teeth  _ were _ they?!

“They were just so horrible, and polished which made it worse. I studied them a bit closer, before I realised that they were Skeppy’s! The guy has really recognisable teeth.”

Quackity looked as if he were about to be sick, and Schlatt didn’t blame him. Listening to this was making him slightly queasy from the mental image and Fundy was still  _ rambling  _ on!

“A few shards of diamond were on the floor, they were way too bright to have been from a regular diamond. I then turned over to Ant and he didn’t  _ move  _ no matter what I did before I-I realised h-he was-”

Full blown tears made their way down Fundy’s cheeks. Disappearing into the course orange fur that covered every available inch of skin it could find.

Neither him, nor Quackity, made any sort of move to go comfort him.

Sh*t. Schlatt took a gulp from the foul tasting liquor in his hand.

So both Skeppy, and AntFrost, were dead now.

What did this mean for Manberg?!

Their gathering of which  _ every single citizen _ was talking about could be ruined from this!

Quackity, after taking a nervous look over to him, asked Fundy a hesitant question.

“If those two were dead, then what about Bad?”

The fox hybrids tears began to waver as he whispered out his next sentence.

“I don’t… I don’t  _ know _ .”

Schlatt lent back on his chair, reaching as far back as it would go. The flimsy thing making a loud cracking sound which reverberated across the office as his two workers immediately looked back over to him.

Chortling laughter began to echo Through out the dimly lit room. Insane as it was, it came from their very own boss who was the one in such hysteric.

Both of them watched with fearful baited breath to see what else the man would do. His Vice President was the first to cautiously ask a question.

“Schlatt? Are you… okay?”

Frightening the two of them with a heavy fist slamming down on the table, and a maniacal gleam in his sadistic eyes, the President of Manberg spoke his next words.

“Well boys. I guess we’ve only got three more obstacles left!”

Quackity flinched far away from him, seemly knowing of what the dictator was talking about.

“T-three?!”

Fundy sounded almost as if he were in shock! Staring right at Schlatt as if  _ he  _ were the messed up one!

“Once we get rid of three more factors preventing us from having a perfect utopia over here, we’ll be living scot free!”

Schlatt’s grin grew wider.

“Dream, Wilbur, the Tubbo.”

Then with his final statement, the hybrid fell back into laughter while his two  _ servant _ watched on in horror.

This world was for the strong!


	43. It's crying for peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all have some theories for either the comment section or the official Discord!

[THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BADLANDS WERE DESTROYED]

Tensions back in Pogtopia were increasing by the day.

Tommy’s hope that their dad would be a better influence on Wilbur had been a false one.

Philza preferred to stay with Technoblade at all times. Their soft chuckling together creating a rising atmosphere from the other two inhabitants of their underground prison.

Not only that, but both of them would frequently go out to hunt and forage for food.

Tommy couldn’t help but fearfully stare at them once they’d returned. Had they just spoken to Schlatt?  _ Dream?! _

If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Dream had no good intentions for helping out Pogtopia.

He’d been the first evil they’d had to face.

It was L’Manberg against Dream! That was how it went!

The times when Tommy could take out a sword and then hack away at whoever bothered him were fond memories. It was just him and his crew. Against the world it’s very self.

So as he saw Philza and Technoblade strode past his room, right towards the hidden storm that was Wilbur?

Tommy shut and locked his door. Hoping that his growing paranoia wouldn’t progress just as far as Wilbur’s did.

He missed his brother.

—————

Wilbur was not crazy  _ he was not crazy _ !

It’d been all  _ f*cking. Schlatt’s. Fault. _

Why could they all see that?!

Scratching lines into his arms, Wilbur Soot paced through the one hallway they had.

_ Where had f*cking Phil and Techno gone. _

His slight smirk that had become his default expression widened as he realised one very,  _ very _ , simple truth!

They were traitors! The two of them had just gone off and left him and Tommy all alone to deal with their own problems, just as they’d done years ago!

And ohhhhh. He was  _ sick _ of it.

The trench coat he’d donned since his exile was slowly getting worn away. The shabby quality of the leather not used to such prolonged use without a wash or rest.

This was his grounding point. The item that would remind Wilbur that it wasn’t  _ his _ fault that everything was falling to sh*t.

_ Nooooooo _ . It was-

The sound of one clicking pair of shoes alerted him to the presence of one other person.

Tommy hadn’t come out since their daily talk a few hours ago, and there was only one person who had the audacity to not wear any sort of suitable shoes for a cave.

It must be  _ good ol Philza _ and probably  _ Technoblade  _ too, who just naturally hid any sound he made upon arrival.

The two appeared from around the corner, and it only fueled his anger once Wilbur realised that they didn’t even bring back any food.

_ What had they done instead? They’ll say they just hung out outside but you know they hate you! Schlatt’s waiting for any minute now to jump in and kill- _

“You guys are quite late, aren’t you.”

Wilbur stated it as a fact. Watching as both his father and brother turned their attention away from each other, and onto him.

Yeah. An even wider smirk arose onto his face. Such attention was unfamiliar when coming from  _ them _ .

Philza didn’t even take a moment to properly read the scene in front of him before grinning from ear to ear.

“Wilbur! Ah, great to see you mate! Me’n Techno just saw a shooting star!”

The pig hybrid in question nodded gruffly.

However, this sent off alarm bells from within Wilbur’s own head leading him to finally show a natural smile.

Finally! He’d got them into his trap!

Philza carried on merrily without knowing the danger he’d just stumbled into.

“Nothing really spectacular, but I hadn’t seen one in so long since I’ve come back here. You know I was recently over on-”

“Hey Phil. You can’t  _ see _ the stars from within the forest.”

Wilbur cut off his dad, and it was true. Only the smallest slither of sky could be seen whenever it was particularly windy, and the trees would blow wildly from side to side.

Wings shuffled around in confusion.

“Ahhhh, Wil? I know you can’t see them from the forest. We-”

“What? Were you  _ outside  _ of Pogtopia’s zone?!”

Philza patiently shut his mouth, while Technoblade got into a more threatening position to protect the  _ one  _ he cared about.

Wilbur carried on in his charade, emotions growing higher and higher with every word he spoke.

“And WHAT were you two doing out there, huh?! Con _ spiring  _ with the  _ enemy _ ?! Don’t tell me that you left to finish off Tubbo, Techno! Oh sorry, should I be calling you the  _ ‘Blood God’ _ now?!”

The crowned figure shuffled in mild discomfort, but never let his axe lower. Instead choosing to section his father away from the leader of the rebellion-

Only for Philza, who was finally angry, to push right past him to face his middle son.

“Okay. Now you’ve gone too far.”

His face looked mildly annoyed. It was the same face he’d make any time Wilbur would make a serious complaint about his brother! A disappointment shown to only  _ him _ out of all of them.

“Wilbur. I know I’ve let you have your little rebellion for quite some time, but you’re going too far to blame Techno for something he couldn’t control-”

“HE DIDN’T NEED TO BETRAY US AND KILL ONE OF OUR FEW MEMBERS!”

“You know QUITE well enough that he couldn’t control that!”

“SO WHAT! Just because  _ he  _ has a F*CKING blessing he’s the favorite?!”

Philza’s face finally changed to an expression Wilbur liked much more than his smile as his father harshly whispered back.

“Shut up about the blessings! Tommy’s here too, and if he heard what you just said-”

“THEN WHAT!”

Wilbur was just  _ soooo _ f*cking sick of all of this! All of these  _ lies _ and  _ excuses _ that things were shifting to become unbearable!

All the anger he’d kept in poured out in an unregulated torrent of hate and anguish.

“WHY SHOULD TOMMY NOT KNOW?! YOU WERE SO EAGER TO TELL ME ABOUT JUST HOW HE DID IT! WHY DON’T YOU JUST TELL THE WHOLE SERVER ABOUT THE  _ BOTH _ OF YOU AND WHAT YOU’VE DONE!”

“Wilbur! Just stop f*cking going on about that! What would Sally have said-”

“SHE’S DEAD, AND  _ YOU  _ KILLED HER!”

The two of them went silent, and Wilbur didn’t regret a single word he’d said in the slightest.

Technoblade was still looking as if he were about to carve him down where he stood for yelling at his dad. As if, they hadn’t been brothers at some point, anyways.

That day many years ago when the two of them had gone out together, was the day he’d lost his brother and best friend.

Wilbur never had a father.

When Philza began to close into on him waving his hands to calm the situation, he realised what the man was aiming to do and recoiled in disgust.

Seriously?! Against his own son?!

That power which made him sick to the head. Corrupting whatever it could, without a moment's notice.

“Get away from me.”

Wilbur was frowning now. Something that felt increasingly wrong had entered the air made him dig those fingernails even harder across his skin until the blood dripped down in perfect lines.

“Come on, Wilbur.”

The man’s eyes were kind. It was disgusting how even in a situation like this he truly couldn’t care in the right way a father should.

Soothingly, Philza kept on talking.

“I could help you, you know? We can sit down, have a little chat. But you should relax and sit down first.”

With a sneer and insanity within his eyes, Wilbur took a step back.

“If you get even one f*cking step closer to me, I swear I’ll…”

Technoblade had a totem of undying in one hand. Of course he would always be ready for combat.

“Wilbur…”

Philza shook his head softly, tears forming within his eyes which were almost surely fake, or not for him.

“Why can’t you just stop hating me? I know you’re not a kid anymore, so this childish attitude is just getting hard for the people you care about to deal with!”

“Don’t tell me not to hate you, when anger has been the only emotion you’ve ever taught me.”

The two of them went silent once again, before Technoblade let out a cough, reminding Philza that he wasn’t the only one in the room.

Just before the two departed, Phil spoke once again.

“Sorry for bothering you, Wil. But you really should just  _ give up _ .”

Both him, and his oldest left the room. Leaving nothing but pure and unrelenting  _ hatred _ within his heart.

With blood in his nails, and hair greasy as it had been for weeks, Wilbur Soot stared right where they’d left him alone.

  
That. Was.  _ It _ .


	44. Which it forgoes while it mauls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m writing a- I’m writing a one shot that’s almost over 10k-

Tommy heard their entire conversation, and was left with much more questions than answers.

The first question that came to mind, was about how his dad had apparently killed Sally.

He sat, back against the door, with a hand covering over his mouth. Lest the very loud breathing of his were to alert anyone of what he’d learnt.

Sally had been Fundy’s mother. A fact that a fair few people knew of, and she was also Wilbur’s girlfriend who was the father of the fox hybrid.

However, Tommy had never met her in his lifetime. Because Wilbur had kept all information on her a secret apart from their son, until the day he brought home his young child with tears in his eyes.

That day was when Wilbur whispered to him, that Philza wouldn’t be coming to visit for a long while.

Yet Fundy didn’t have a single memory besides that day, as he’d told them.

For some reason that made his older brother clench a tight fist. Anger pooling in his eyes of which Tommy hadn’t seen until their recent exile again.

With stifled breath, and wide eyes, all he could do was wonder to himself even more.

Had their dad… really killed her?

For what reason did he do it?! Or was it just cold blooded murder alongside Technoblade who he knew from experience wouldn’t bat an eye at the death of a teenager.

Why not a mother?

Tommy shook violently. The freezing temperatures outside having swept into the ravine without any major source of heat leaving him much colder than regular.

Then there was whatever a ‘blessing’ was, and how it was being hidden from him.

But apparently, there was a lot being hidden from Tommy.

What had made Wilbur so scared of Philza at the end, and what was that power he mentioned?

Had they really been conspiring with Schlatt outside of the forest?!

Soft but audible footsteps echoed outside of his door.

There was only one person who they could possibly belong to.

Tommy clamped his hand on tighter and squeezed his eyes shut. Not wanting to face what who outside, and just what they might do to him for listening into the conversation outside.

Unfortunately for him, it was that moment a muffled sob came from behind his hand.

The footsteps stopped in their tracks.

Stupid!

Tommy hunched over his bunched up legs, which were starting to ache from holding such an uncomfortable position for a long period of time.

Why was it always  _ him _ ?

Footsteps thumped once again, but this time headed straight towards his hiding place in his room.

The door handle jerked to the side, pushing against his back briefly, before twisting multiple times. Dread of what might come rushing through Tommy’s veins.

But he  _ just couldn’t move _ !

Just as it had begun, the door handle was let go of.

Tommy peaked a bloodshot eye open. Slowly curling out of his hunched over position, in case his tormentor was still there and listening.

Did he leave? Was he finally safe?

He breathed a sigh of relief, placing both hands down onto the floor. Finally being able to move again as the threat of danger had left.

Three soft knocks reverberated around his room. Each, echoing as a damming choir in his head.

Tommy froze like a deer on a highway.

Wilbur’s voice quietly came from behind the spruce door, hauntingly calm in its nature.

“Tommy? Could you let me in, please?”

Unconsciously his hands began to reach out towards the door handle. Desperately wishing to let his brother in just as he’d done as a child whenever a nightmare came.

However, his fingers froze just before reaching the lock. Any hopefulness he’d harboured dimming down.

Wilbur wasn’t the same person who’d cared for him anymore.

Standing up slowly, Tommy desperately rubbed at his eyes. Trying to pull his face back to normal as quickly as possible.

“Tommy? I just want to talk. I know you heard everything we spoke about, right?”

His eyes widened.

His brother knew.

Knew that he’d been listening in to what sounded like a very important conversation. What would his punishment be by opening the door, and what would it be if he didn’t?!

There was just no way  _ out _ .

A small cough sounded from outside the door. Wilbur hadn’t gone away.

“They’ve been trying to keep secrets from you, Tommy.”

Yes. But Phil had always been the sort of person who would only take actions if they were necessary.

“They’ve been  _ lying _ to you, to  _ us _ , for years.”

Maybe. But there must be a good reason! There needed to be someone out there he could trust!

Someone who wouldn’t lie.

Someone like…

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Oh.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Huh.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Tommy hesitantly reached upwards to unlock the door, and let his brother in.

**Author's Note:**

> https://discord.gg/VyKWNCJqpA Join the discord server for information, art, and talking stuff! As well as being for this book, it works for my other mcyt written works too!


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